Full text of "Among British birds in their nesting haunts : illustrated by the camera"

See other formats

AMONG BRITISH BIRDS IN THEIR

NESTING HAUNTS

Printed at the Edinburgh University Press
By T. and A. CONSTABLE

FOR
DAVID DOUGLAS

LONDON . . . SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT

AND CO., LTD

CAMBRIDGE . . MACMILLAN AND BOWES.
GLASGOW . . . JAMES MACI.EHOSE AND SONS.

LIBRARY
G

UBRARt
G

: /

LIST OF PLATES

ABERNETHY FOREST.— Title-page.

RICHARDSON'S SKUA, Plate I., .
Do., Plate II., .

REDSHANK, .
SAND MARTIN,
BLACK GUILLEMOT,
RING-OUZEL,

COMMON TERN, Plate I., .
Do., Plate II., .

KKU-NECKED PHALAROPE, .
WOOD WREN,
ARCTIC TERN,
GOOSANDER, .
GREENFINCH,
COMMON GULL, .
CUCKOO, Plate I.,
Do., Plate II.,
HEDGE-SPARROW,
HOODED CROW, .
BLUE TIT, .
WHIMBREL, .
ROBIN, .

WREN, . ....

ROOK, Plate I., .
Do., Plate II., .
MARSH TITMOUSE,
GOLDEN EAGLE, Plate I , .
Do., Plate II., .

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER,
TEAL, .
PHEASANT, .

June igth, 1897,
June 1 9th, 1897,
April joth, 1896,
May 29th, 1896,
June 1 5th, 1896,
May 6th, 1893, .
June 5th, 1896, .
June 4th, 1895, .
June 26th, 1897,
June 3rd, 1896, .
June 4th, 1895, .
May 36th, 1896,

June 28th, 1897,
May 1 7th, 1894,
June 1 8th, 1897,
May 3rd, 1896, .
April 25th, 1897,
April 29th, 1896,
June 24th, 1897,
May 8th, 1897, •
May 7th, 1897, .
April 20th, 1897,
April 2Oth, 1897,
May 3Oth, 1896,
May 2Oth, 1896,
June i6th, 1896,
June ist, 1893,
May 6th, 1893, .
May loth, 1893,

FACING
PACK

Shetland, . . 4

Do., 6

Perthshire, . . 10

Aviemore, . . 14

Island of Mull, . 18

Tweedsmuir, . 22

Culbin Sands, . 26

Fame Islands, . 28

Shetland, . 32

Morayshire, . 36

Fame Islands, . 40

Strathspey, . 44

Perthshire, . . 48

Shetland, . 52

Perthshire, . 56

Norfolk, . 58

Perthshire, . . 62

Do., . 66

Lake of Monteith, 70

Shetland, . . 74

Perthshire, 80

Lake of Monteith, 84

Do., 90

Do., 92

Strathspey, . 96

Lochbuie, Mull, . 102

Do., 104

Perthshire, . 108

Do., . 112

Do., 116

819005

FACING
PAGE

TREE CREEPER, .

May 8th, 1897, . . Lake of Monteith,

120

BLACKBIRD, Plate I., .

May 3rd, 1894, . Tweedsmuir,

126

Do., Plate II., .

May 7th, 1897, . . Perthshire, .

128

ROCK PIPIT, ....

June 28th, 1893, . Bass Rock, .

132

MAGPIE,

April 24th, 1894, Tweedsmuir,

136

RINGDOVE,

April 1 2th, 1894, Do.,

140

SEDGE WARBLER,

May 3Oth, 1895, . Perthshire, .

144

DIPPER, . ....

April 26th, 1897, Do.,

148

FULMAR, ....

June 2Oth, 1897, . Shetland,

152

DUNLIN, ....

May 2Oth, 1895, . Loch Leven, .

ie.6

V I

G N E T T E S

PAGE

GULLS FEEDING,

BLACK GUILLEMOTS ON THE WING,

PHALAROPE GROUND— LOCH SPIGGIE,

FEATHER (GREENSHANK), .

GOOSANDER AND YOUNG, .

GULL IN FLIGHT,

GROUP OF PUFFINS, .

ROBIN'S NEST ON WINDOW,

YOUNG ROOKS FALLEN FROM NEST,

GOLDEN EAGLE AND WHITE HARE,

GOLDEN EAGLE,

too

FEATHER (SNIPE),

I IO

BLACKBIRD,

123

PEREGRINE STOOPING,

124

foj^j£ZZ2?2?25S^

li, I

RICHARDSON'S SKUA

Stercoranus crepzdatus

iICHARDSON'S Skua is by far the most abundant of the
Skuas which visit our Islands. On migration it frequents
most parts of the Scotch coast, but its breeding-places are
confined to the extreme north of the British Islands. It
has several breeding-stations on the Outer Hebrides, chiefly
in North and South Uist, one or two on the Inner
Hebrides, and on the Orkney and Shetland Islands it is
fairly abundant. On the mainland of Scotland it breeds on some of the
Caithness moors and in Sutherlandshire. In Ireland and England there are
no authenticated records of its having nested, though it is known as a regular
visitor to both countries in winter.

The favourite haunts of Richardson's Skua are the open moors and
hillsides and low grassy islands. Its flight is strong and swift, rather like
some of the hawks. No Gull or Tern has any chance of escape when chased
by it, so quickly can it turn and double back. While chasing some unfortunate
Gull its screams resemble the syllables ' keeaah-keeaahj but its usual note
when flying about its breeding-grounds is a loud ' kitti-aah-kitti-yow' sometimes
shortened into ' kyow-kyow?

There are two phases of plumage, a light form and a dark form, but
they pair indiscriminately with each other, and the young birds resemble one
or other of their parents. There is no intermediate adult plumage.

The Skua's favourite method of obtaining its food is to steal from its neigh-
bours, the Gulls and Terns, robbing them of their newly-caught fish. It will
chase some unfortunate bird and buffet it till it disgorges the fish] it has caught,
pouncing down and seizing its prize before it reaches the water. It also robs
their nests of both eggs and young. No garbage thrown upon the beach

VOL. III. — A I

L-

"••« ••*•>

comes amiss to it, and it is very fond of following the fishing-boats to pick
up any refuse thrown overboard.

It is rather a late breeder, and only arrives at its breeding-grounds in
the beginning of May. Eggs are, however, seldom laid before the last few
days of the month. Though it is a gregarious bird, its colonies are very
scattered, no two nests being found close together; they are usually scattered
all over the moor where the birds breed. They are very difficult to find ; and
although the ornithologist may be surrounded with birds lying on the ground
flapping their wings to distract his attention, or dashing down at his head,
he may hunt for half an hour most systematically, and yet be unable to find
a nest. The surest way is to lie down behind some hummock and watch the
females to their nests. At first they will fly about and settle in various places,
changing their position every now and then, but gradually they go to their
nests and settle down on them ; then they can be marked and easily
found.

The nest is placed quite in the open on some bare part of the moor, and
is merely a depression in the ground scantily lined with a few bits of grass
or sprigs of heather. Two eggs are usually laid ; on some occasions only
one ; three are seldom, if ever, found. In most of the colonies I have visited,
I have found very light-coloured eggs, as well as the ordinary dark types,
and have noticed the extraordinary variety in their shapes. It is quite
common to find a very long thin egg and a round one in the same nest.
The eggs vary in ground-colour from pale olive green to russet brown, or
even pale buff and pale bluish green, blotched, spotted, or fantastically
streaked with rich dark brown overlying spots, sometimes almost black, and
a few inconspicuous underlying markings of greyish brown. The markings
are generally fairly evenly distributed over the entire surface of the shell, but
on some specimens they form a ring round the larger end of the egg ; they
are seldom much larger than a fair-sized pea. The eggs vary in length from
2 '49 to 2'io inches, and in breadth from r68 to 1*55 inch. They are absolutely
indistinguishable from certain varieties of the Common and Black-headed
Gulls.

Young in down are dark sooty brown, slightly paler on the under parts ;
the bill, legs, and feet black.

PLATE I
RICHARDSON'S SKUA. Stercorariits crepidatus

June igth, 1897. — The two eggs depicted in this Plate were photographed at
a colony in the north of Unst, Shetland. Although many of the eggs were
already hatched I found plenty of nests with two eggs, and some with
only one.

While I was looking about for suitable nests to photograph, I was struck
by the angry birds two or three times, my cap being knocked off. It was
most interesting to see their antics on the ground when they tried to draw
my attention from their eggs or young ; they would lie on their sides and
flap their wings, or flutter along as if wounded. One light-breasted bird lay
right on its back quite still for a few seconds, and then rolled over, beating
its wings.

I saw them chasing each other at a great height, calling incessantly
' kitti aa — kitti aa,' just like the Kittiwakes, and sometimes darting down
with a tremendous rushing noise.

They had a peculiar habit of sitting quite motionless for some length of
time on the top of a hillock, especially when I lay down to watch them to
their nests.

RICHARDSON'S SKUA. Stercorarius crtpUatus.

% NATURAL SIZE.

Plate I.

PLATE II
RICHARDSON'S SKUA. Stercorarius crepidatits

June \f)th, 1897. — I photographed this nest on the top of a small hillock on
the west of Unst, Shetland. One young bird was hatched, and the other was
doing his best to get out of his prison. The hole in the egg and the
tips of the young bird's bill protruding can be quite distinctly seen in the
Plate.

Small bits of fish were brought to the young ones by their parents, who
disgorged them on the sides of the nest and fed the young birds with them.

Close to this nest I found a dropped egg of this species ; it was pale
bluish green, in ground-colour very nearly white, and had one or two very
faint scrawlings of a pale reddish brown, and a few small grey underlying
markings on it. It was quite fresh, and not addled as I had expected. The
young in down are very difficult to find ; they exactly resemble the peat in
colour, and most of the moor was covered with little lumps scattered about,
so that the birds crouching down in the heather were quite indistinguishable
from one of these pieces of peat.

VOL. III. — B

RICHARDSON'S SKUA. Stcrcorarius crtpidalus.
% NATURAL SIZE.

Plate It.

REDSHANK

Totanus caltdrts

Redshank is one of the commonest and most widely
distributed of all the Waders found in Great Britain
and Ireland. It is a resident in our Islands, and
frequents the salt marshes and low-lying parts of our
coasts in winter, returning inland to its breeding-haunts
when spring comes round again. It breeds in most
suitable localities in England and Wales, as also in
Ireland ; in Scotland it is most abundant and widely distributed, and breeds
in most of the adjacent islands, the Hebrides and the Orkneys and Shetland,
though not so commonly as on the mainland.

The Redshank is a bird of the swamps, and loves the low-lying marshy
fields by the sides of lochs, rivers, and streams; it is one of the first birds
to return from the coast in early spring, and its loud ringing cry may be
heard in the first days of March among the brooks and swamps where it
rears its young. On the shore of the loch, far up among the mountains,
where there is only a small delta of swampy ground, where the stream flows
into the loch, the Redshank is sure to be found ; and even where the
marshes have been drained, the bird still lingers, nesting among the
tufts of grass and rushes, as if loth to leave its accustomed haunts.

The Redshank is a lively bird, ever on the alert : the slightest
suspicion of danger will cause it to rise, whistling its cheery cry, ' tyu-hii-hii' ;
it flies round and round the intruder, startling the whole neighbourhood.
When alarmed at its nest it will whirl round and round, uttering its cry
incessantly — a loud ' tyip-tyip-tyip-tyip ' : this is its alarm-note. When five
or six pairs of these birds are all shrieking this note, it becomes most
irritating, as they will go on for many minutes without ceasing. When
alighting again on the ground they have a clear ringing trill, which may

be represented by the syllables ' turr-ee-oo, turr-ee-ooj repeated rapidly
over and over again.

Inland the food of the Redshank consists of small worms, insects,
grubs, and tiny shells, and occasionally the small shoots of marsh plants ; in
winter chiefly marine creatures are devoured, — sandvvorms, molluscs, and small
crustaceans.

The Redshank commences nesting operations early in April, and eggs
may be obtained till well on in May. I have taken fresh eggs of this species
in Morayshire in the second week of June. It is rather a sociable bird during
the breeding-season, and numbers of its nests may be found in one small patch
of ground. The males at this season may often be seen sitting on the tops
of fence-posts or on stone walls, bowing and strutting like Ruffs, and spreading
their tails. Sometimes they will fly round and round their sitting mate,
uttering a trilling cry, clear and ringing ; this they do chiefly in the evenings.

The nest is placed on the ground in the middle of some tuft of grass, or
under the shelter of some plant of marsh-marigold or tuft of heather. They
are generally very artfully hidden by the grass, which hangs over them. Very
little lining is used ; the centre of the tuft is usually pulled out and trodden
down to form a cup for the reception of the eggs, and is sometimes lined
with a few scraps of reed, bent, or tiny pieces of heath, or a dead leaf or two.
The nest is usually in a damp place, seldom far from water. Four eggs are
laid, rather large for the size of the bird — as is the case with most of the
Waders, — nearly always pyriform to an unusual degree. They vary in ground-
colour from rich yellowish buff to pale buff, sometimes slightly suffused
with a greenish tinge, and are blotched, spotted, or streaked with rich dark
brown surface-markings and pale brown and purple grey under-markings ;
some specimens have a few wavy streaks round the large end of the egg.
Most specimens have the largest blotches on the big end of the egg, but a
few specimens have this order reversed. I have also seen an egg with such
faint markings that on first sight it appeared spotless. Some specimens are
most beautifully marked, and have a purplish tinge. They vary from i'85 to
i '65 inch in length, and from 1*35 to 170 inch in breadth.

Young in down have rich buff upper parts mottled with black and pale
buff under parts. Only one brood is reared in the year.

PLATE I
REDSHANK. Totanus calidris

April 3O//2, 1896. — This nest was placed in the middle of a swampy field
near the Lake of Monteith, Perthshire. In this same field I examined no
fewer than nine Redshanks' nests in one morning, all of which were in very
damp places, and in one case actually in water.

Although this particular meadow has been extensively drained lately,
and the grass is well eaten down by cattle, still the Redshank frequent it
in the same numbers as of yore when the water used to lie on it in large
pools all the summer, and the principal crop was rushes and marsh-
marigolds. Down the side of the field is a fence and some dead alder
bushes, on the branches of which I have seen the Redshank perch on
many occasions, while one could rarely pass in spring without seeing
one or two birds on the tops of the fence-posts bowing and scraping and
going through other antics of courtship.

VOL. in. — c

REDSHANK. To/anus calidris.
>/a NATURAL SIZE.

SAND MARTIN

Cotile ripana

Sand Martin is a common and widely distributed
summer visitor to the British Islands, and breeds in
most districts where banks suited to its method of
nidification are to be found. It breeds in the Outer
Hebrides, and in Orkney, but is only occasionally seen
in Shetland.

Owing to the partiality of this bird to perpendicular

cliffs of earth and sand, it is somewhat local in its distribution ; and, as
these cliffs or banks are usually found on the shores of lakes, pools, disused
quarries and the banks of streams, it seems to be partial to the neighbour-
hood of water; perhaps, too, the flies on which it feeds are more numerous
near ponds and streams. They are the first of the Swallows to leave in the
autumn, most of them quitting our shores in September; it is frequently seen
in England in the beginning of April on its return from its winter-quarters,
which are very little known.

Immediately after its return to this country, the Sand Martin repairs
to its breeding-haunts, sleeping in the old holes at night. The depth of
the hole depends on the nature of the soil ; in soft sandy soil the hole is
often three or four feet deep, in hard gravelly soil it is sometimes only
eight or ten inches ; it is entirely excavated by the birds themselves,
and they do it very rapidly, considering the feeble tools with which they
are supplied. The work of excavation is chiefly carried on in the early
morning ; both birds assist, and often begin two or three holes before they
finally decide on a nesting-site. Many holes may be seen stopped when only
a few inches deep, for no apparent reason whatever. The nesting-chamber is
usually slightly higher than the orifice of the hole, showing that the bird
understands the principle of drainage. These holes vary considerably in

shape and depth ; some are perfectly round, others oval, while a few are like
a railway tunnel, with a flat floor; they are usually two or three inches in
their largest diameter. At the far end of the excavation a round chamber,
some six inches in diameter, is made ; in this the nest is built. Many of the
holes turn and twist about to avoid boulders or other obstructions.

About the end of May or the beginning of June the birds have begun
to lay, and this is the time for fresh eggs. Some colonies are very large,
and the face of the earth-cliff is riddled with holes in every direction. On
the approach of danger the whole air swarms with these little birds, and their
curious rattling twitter fills the air. They will fairly hustle an intruding bird
off the scene, chasing it with great pertinacity. Its flight is peculiar and
hesitating, and it seems to check itself every now and then as it flies
over the surface of the water. On the Broads in Norfolk I have seen them
sitting in thousands on the tall reeds, in company with House Swallows
and Martins. The eggs of the Sand Martin vary in number from four to
six ; they are pure white, sometimes faintly spotted with pale brown, which
however is easily washed off; they vary in length from 75 to '63 inch, and
in breadth from '50 to '46 inch.

Two broods are reared in the year. As soon as the first broods are
capable of taking care of themselves they gather into large flocks and spend
the day in hawking after insects, roosting at night on the reeds and small
bushes in the marshes. The food of the Sand Martin is entirely composed
of small insects, — especially gnats, which are most abundant in the neighbour-
hood of water. In the autumn, when they gather before migration, they may
be seen sitting in thousands along some line of telegraph wires, or on some
wire fence. I have seen the branches of a dead oak-tree covered by
thousands of these little birds. By the end of September most of them
have gone south, but a few stragglers may be seen well on into October.

PLATE I
SAND MARTIN. Cotile riparia

May 2gth, 1896. — This Plate is taken from a very pretty colony on the banks
of the Spey below Aviemore. I had to set up my camera in two feet of
running water before I could get a satisfactory photograph.

Nearly all the nests contained fresh eggs. Most of them were only a few
inches from the mouth of the hole, but the top ones were somewhat deeper,
as the soil was soft and easily excavated by the birds. The nests were
composed of little bits of dead grass, a few small straws, and a profusion
of feathers, chiefly those of the domestic fowl.

At a colony on the banks of the Findhorn I was interested to watch
the old birds teaching their young to fly. The young birds sat in the mouth
of the hole and the old birds flew close past them, sometimes hovering in
front of them and twittering loudly, no doubt trying to induce them to fly.
I saw one little bird launch itself forth and flutter across the swiftly flowing
stream, while the two old birds flew alongside, and encouraged it to keep
up its efforts. Finally the rest of the brood crossed the river in safety, and
took up their position on a wire fence on the other side, where I saw them
afterwards being fed by their parents.

VOL. III. — D

SAND MARTIN. Cotilt , if aria.

BLACK GUILLEMOT

Una grylle

Great Britain the principal breeding-stations of the
Black Guillemot are on the north and west coasts of
Scotland, including the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and
Shetlands. In England it has been recorded as breeding
sparingly on the Isle of Mull, and there are a few
colonies on the north coast of Ireland. It is occasionally
driven inland by severe storms.

The Black Guillemot closely resembles the Common Guillemot and
Razorbill in its habits. It lives chiefly on the sea, only repairing to the
rocky coasts during the breeding-season. It is a gregarious bird, but is
never seen in large flocks like the Common Guillemot. From six to a dozen
birds are usually seen together, swimming about among the surf close to
the rocks, now and then diving after some small fish. It is not a shy bird,
and can be approached within a very short distance. On the water it sits
high, and swims lightly on the surface ; few birds can equal it in diving, and
it progresses with great speed under water, using its wings as well as in the
air. The water is never too rough for this dainty little bird, though at times
it seems as if it must be dashed to pieces on the rocks. Its flight is
straight and rapid, though its wings are so small and narrow, and strings of
these little birds may often be observed flying just above the water at a great
pace on their way to some favourite feeding-ground.

The food of the Black Guillemot is chiefly composed of young saithe
and herring, which are abundant round the coast of Scotland, but small
crustaceans and tiny shellfish are also eaten. Most of its food is obtained
by diving, at which it is wonderfully expert. During the breeding-season
it does not wander far from home, but obtains most of its food in the
neighbourhood. The note of the Black Guillemot is seldom heard ; it is a
rather plaintive whistle, impossible to describe on paper. The young birds,
however, call incessantly, and their cry may be described as a shrill 'peep?
somewhat drawn out.

The Black Guillemot is rather a late breeder, and eggs can seldom be

found before the last few days of May. It is believed to pair for life, as the
same cracks and crevices in the rocks are tenanted year after year. No nest is
made, but the eggs are deposited on the bare stones, either in some crannies
in a cliff — it may be at the very top, hundreds of feet from the sea — or under
some flat stone among the ddbris on the shore. On some of the small islands
in Shetland I have found them a hundred yards from the sea, under some flat
rock in the middle of a grassy island, and in Unst I took two beautiful
specimens from an old stone wall fully a hundred and fifty yards from the
sea. Sometimes the eggs can be distinctly seen from outside, at other times
they are ten or twelve feet from the orifice. They are generally two in number,
though it is said that three are occasionally found. They resemble miniature
Razorbill eggs ; not much variation is observed in the character of the
markings. The ground-colour varies from creamy white and pale bumsh
yellow to very pale bluish green, blotched and spotted with overlying marks
of rich brown, sometimes purplish black, and large conspicuous under-markings
of inky grey. Some specimens have the markings very small, and distributed
fairly evenly over the entire surface of the egg. On others the blotches are
large and confluent, forming irregular patches on the larger end of the egg,
and in some instances they are collected in a zone. They vary in length from
2*50 to 2' 1 7 inches, and from ryo to 1^45 inch in breadth.

Both birds assist in the duties of incubation, as I have seen them relieve
each other ; each in turn fetching food to their sitting mate, generally small coal-
fish. They do not evince much anxiety when their nesting-haunts are invaded,
flying off to the sea with much whirring of their short wings, where they
swim restlessly about until the intruder departs.

Young in down are uniform brownish black.

PLATE I
BLACK GUILLEMOT. Uria grylle

June \$th, 1896. — This nest was under a huge block of rock on one of the
Garvelloch Islands off the coast of Mull. The eggs were quite visible from
the outside, as appears in the Plate. When I came up the little bird was
sitting on the eggs with her back to me ; on my appearance she hurried off
into the darkness and flew away from the other side of the rock, having no
doubt escaped by the back entrance.

The eggs were very highly incubated, and under a stone not far off I
found two little black downy young ones, which must have been hatched some
time. One or two fragments of tiny herrings were lying beneath the stone,
and we saw one of the old birds fly into the hole with another fish held
crosswise in its bill, soon after we moved from the spot.

Another nest on the same island was quite inaccessible. It was placed in
a vertical crack in the rocks about four inches wide and perhaps eight feet
deep ; we could just make out the two eggs in the darkness.

VOL. in. — E 17

BLACK GUILLEMOT. Uria grylle.
'/a NATURAL SIZE.

RING-OUZEL

Turdus torquatus

>HE Ring-Ouzel is a regular summer visitor to Great Britain,
and breeds on the highlands and hills in suitable localities.
In Scotland and Ireland, as also in the north of England,
it is a fairly common bird, and has been recorded as
nesting in some of the southern counties of England. Its
winter -quarters are in Southern Europe, North Africa,
and Asia Minor.

The Ring-Ouzel is the only migratory Thrush that visits our shores to
rear its young. Its favourite haunts are the wilds of the mountains, and its
plaintive whistle may be heard on most of our hills and mountains, however
rugged and wild. Wherever the Golden Plover and the Red Grouse breed
the Ring-Ouzel is almost certain to be found. It prefers the wildest solitudes
of the mountains, where there are rocks and heather, and is especially fond of
the banks of wild mountain streams. It arrives in our country about the
end of March and the beginning of April, and from that time till its departure
in late autumn it haunts the uplands.

Shortly after their arrival at their breeding-haunts the males begin to
sing. It is a somewhat monotonous performance, but loud and cheery, especially
among the wild and lonely mountains. It rather reminds one of the Starling's
song, and yet possesses some characteristics of the Blackbird's mellow notes.
The bird first utters a few low musical notes, followed quickly by several harsh
rasping tones, and remains silent for a minute or so before repeating the
performance. The call-notes of the Ring-Ouzel are somewhat varied ; sometimes
three low, plaintive whistles may be heard, at other times the male has a
sharp, piping cry and the alarm-note is ' tac-tac-tac! frequently repeated.
The food of the Ring-Ouzel is varied ; like the Blackbird he may be seen
on the grassy pasture-lands among the hills, searching for worms in the early

morning, or picking the small slugs from the blades of grass. He also
searches the droppings of sheep and cattle for the small beetles and insects
which abound there. The snail -shells found among the coarse vegeta-
tion are carried by the Ring-Ouzel to some convenient stone, where they
are broken to pieces and the contents devoured. In the autumn wild fruits
and berries are his favourite food, and he sometimes pays the penalty for
theft in the gardens near his haunts, being caught in the nets over the
currants and strawberries. Ivy-berries, elder-berries, wild cherries, brambles,
and especially the fruit of the mountain ash, are eagerly devoured. Soon after
their arrival, and before they have paired, Ring-Ouzels may often be seen
on the moors in large flocks like Fieldfares ; at this time they are very wild
and wary.

In the end of April and the beginning of May nest-building commences.
The nest is generally placed on the ground under some tuft of heather or
some rocky slope, but it is sometimes found low down in a bush. A favourite
situation is on some rock face where the tufts of heather grow out of the
fissures in the rock and conceal the nest. It is rather a well-made nest ;
the outside is made of grass and a few pieces of heather or dead leaves ; this
is then cemented over inside with a layer of clay or mud, being finally thickly
lined with a layer of fine dry grass. In appearance the nest cannot be
distinguished from that of the Blackbird.

The number of eggs laid is usually four or five ; they are very often
indistinguishable from those of the Blackbird, but are, as a rule, more boldly
marked. They are bluish green in ground-colour, blotched with reddish brown.
There are two or three varieties — one, rather long in shape, pale in
ground-colour, with very small markings all over the shell ; a second is very
round, dark greenish in ground-colour, with bold blotches sparingly distributed
over the surface ; yet another is brownish in ground-colour, streaked with light
brown markings and a few purple spots, the markings forming a zone round
one end of the egg. They vary in length from 1-30 to no inch, and in breadth
from -9 to 79 inch.

The old birds defend their young most bravely, and even when the nest
is half finished they guard the vicinity with great jealousy.

PLATE I
R I NG-OUZEL. J^urdus torquatus

May 6tk, 1893. — I photographed this nest on the steep side of a small rocky
glen in Tweedsmuir, Peeblesshire. I had seen the birds, and heard their plaintive
notes on two occasions in the same spot. I watched the female for nearly an
hour before she went to the nest, and it took me three or four minutes to find
it after I had marked the spot. Just as I had discovered it, a bird rushed
past my head, and turning round I saw the Ring-Ouzel sitting on a stone
not ten feet from me. As I stooped down to examine it more closely she flew
past again, almost brushing me with her wings. All the time I was there
they waked the echoes of the glen with loud cries, and it was not till I had
disappeared over the shoulder of the hill that peace was restored.

VOL. in. — F 21

RING-OUZEL. Turdus torquatus.
Va NATURAL SIZE.

COM MON TERN

Sterna fluvzatihs

N the north of Great Britain this species is not nearly so
abundant as the Arctic Tern, but occasional colonies are
met with, all up our coasts as far as the Orkney Islands ;
south of Yorkshire, however, it is the most abundant
species. In Ireland it breeds in most suitable situations
round the coast, as well as on some of the inland loughs,
and is more common than the Arctic Tern.

The Common Tern arrives on our coasts about the end of April, collecting
into flocks again during the latter half of July and August, and gradually
working south during August and September. It retires to its accustomed
breeding-haunts soon after its arrival in our Islands, and is especially partial
to low-lying islands and rocks, where it is comparatively safe from disturbance.
It is very fond of the shallow waters of quiet estuaries, and often follows the
course of some of our larger rivers, at times breeding on the small islands
in them. It is a charming sight to see a flock of these graceful birds following
some shoal of small fish : they hover above it in a whirling, confused cloud,
each bird intent on its prey, swooping down on those which come too near
the surface, or plunging into the water with a splash in their anxiety to
capture their food. It seldom disappears entirely below the surface like the
Gannet, though sometimes it is hidden for an instant by the shower of spray
which it has raised. On land it walks awkwardly, and seldom alights on the
ground except at its nest. Its flight is slow and easy, rather like that of a
Gull, but when chasing each other in the pairing season they turn and twist
and dart about in a wonderful manner. When gorged with food they may
be seen lying on the sand on the shore, and in stormy weather they sit on
the shore in flocks in some sheltered place.

The food of the Common Tern consists principally of young fish, sand-
eels, and small crustaceans, but all sorts of fry are taken. It is almost entirely
obtained upon the wing, and the bird may often be observed perched on the
stakes of the salmon-nets watching for any small fish that may come near.
Its ordinary cry is a long-drawn ' keeee-aarrr] sometimes ' krreeeej but at
the nest a constantly repeated ' kik-kik ' is heard, especially if its young or
eggs are in danger.

The Common Tern nests in some places in huge colonies ; perhaps the
best known of these is on Staples Island at the Fames, off the coast of
Northumberland ; there the birds nest in thousands. I have seen two or
three small colonies of this Tern in Morayshire, and one very picturesque
colony I saw was on a small island near Inverness, on the river Ness. They
begin to lay in the beginning of June, sometimes late in May. Two or three
eggs are laid, sometimes on the bare ground, but never with very much
lining to the nest. Most nests I have seen 'have been mere hollows lined
with a few bits of grass and pieces of sea-campion, occasionally a few feathers
or pieces of dried seaweed.

The eggs vary in ground-colour from' pale -greyish buff — sometimes almost
white — to brownish buff, sometimes olive green of various shades. They are
marked with surface-spots of very dark brown, sometimes purplish black
and inky grey underlying markings. Sometimes the spots are distributed
fairly evenly over the entire surface of the egg ; sometimes they are confluent,
and form large blotches of colour on the large end of the egg, or form an
irregular zone round it, and sometimes they are small, and few in number.
They go through an infinite number of varieties, and cannot be distinguished
from those of the Arctic or Roseate Terns. They vary in length from
r85 to i '48 inch, and in breadth from 135 to 1*15 inch.

Young in down are brownish buff mottled with black on the upper parts,
and the under parts are pure white ; the throat is dark brown. The bill of
the adult Common Tern is orange red tipped with black, while that of the
Arctic Tern is entirely pinkish red. The tarsus of the Common Tern measures
three-quarters of an inch in length, that of the Arctic Tern only half
an inch.

PLATE I
COMMON TERN. Sterna fluviatilis

June $th, 1896. — This nest was placed in a small grassy moor on the
Culbin Sands, Morayshire, not far from the sea. There was a pretty large
colony of Common Terns there that season, though in 1887 I found only
Arctic Terns at this particular place.

In spite of the mild early spring this was the only nest which contained
its full complement of eggs, most of the others having only one egg, and
one or two being still empty.

Close to this little moor was a small marshy loch, over which the Terns
were constantly hovering ; there are no fish in it, so they must have been
after insects of some kind. I have often seen the Black-headed Gulls chasing
the ghost moths in the grass fields in the summer evenings, catching them
with quite an audible snap ; so perhaps the Terns were devouring the dragon-
flies, which abound on the reeds.

VOL. in. — G 25

COMMON TERN. Sterna fluviaiilis.
% NATURAL SIZE.

Plate I.

PLATE II
COMMON TERN. Sterna ftuviatilis

June tfh, 1895. — The nest depicted in this Plate was on Staples Island,
one of the Fames ; it was built among the drift-weed on the shore, close
down to high -water mark.

As we landed on the island the Common Tern rose in thousands and
wheeled screaming above our heads, crossing and re-crossing each other like
some whirling snowstorm ; every now and then one bird would swoop down
and rush past our heads, screaming, to try and drive us from its nest. In
some places it was very difficult to walk without crushing some of the eggs,
which lay about all over the ground, so close were they laid to each other.

Close down to high-water mark we saw quite a number of Arctic Terns,
but the chief colony was at one end of the island, distinct from the huge
colony of Common Terns.

COMMON TERN. Sieniajluvialilis.
•k NATURAL SIZE.

Plait II.

RED-N ECKED
PHALAROPE if!

PhalaropMS kyperboreus

HE Red-necked Phalarope is a summer visitor to our
Islands, but its only breeding-grounds are in the Shetlands
.and the Outer Hebrides. It has also been recorded as
breeding in Caithness and Sutherland. In the rest of
our Islands it is only known as a rare visitor.

The favourite breeding-haunts of the Red-necked
Phalarope are the swamps where there are little pools

of water and tussocks of short, soft grass. Nothing can exceed its tameness ;
it will swim about in the water among the leaves of the bog-bean, like
some miniature Water-hen, within three feet of the observer. It progresses
in a series of jerks in a zigzag direction, bobbing its head like a Water-hen ;
it floats very lightly on the water, and rises with ease in the air without any
splashing. It can fly with great rapidity, and may often be seen twisting
about like a Snipe as it flies.

The food of the Red-necked Phalarope is composed of small worms,
tiny fresh-water shells, crustaceans, and insects. I watched it picking small
flies from the surface of the water as it swam, and searching the leaves of
the bog-bean as it paddled about. Its call-note is a clear, sharp ' wick, wick}
repeated at short intervals, and I heard the males uttering a curious rasping
note as they careered swiftly over the marsh in wide zigzagging circles.

It arrives in Shetland early in June, slightly earlier in the Outer Hebrides,
but eggs are not laid till nearly the middle of the month. It does not seem
to breed on the little islands in the pools of water as a rule, but prefers to
make its nest among the grass round the edge of the swamp. I spent a long
time watching the little birds on the water, but as it was well on in the month
saw chiefly the females. In this species the male is the more silver-coloured,
and does most, if not all, of the sitting on the eggs, besides tending the young
VOL. in. — H 29

birds most carefully. Now and then I saw a dull-coloured bird, but it generally
stayed only a short time, and then flew away to its nest again.

The nest is usually placed in the middle of a thick tuft of grass, and is
sometimes more than a foot above the surface of the actual ground ; it is nearly
always lined with a few dry stalks, and little bits of the dead roots of water-
plants ; most nests I have seen have been very shallow.

Four eggs are laid, with their small ends pointed inwards ; they vary in
ground-colour from pale yellowish buff to pale olive green, or pale yellowish
brown, and are thickly blotched and spotted with pale brown, rich amber, and
blackish brown surface-markings and a few underlying spots of greyish brown.
The markings are much bolder and richer on some specimens than on others,
and on some eggs they take the form of streaks lying obliquely to the longer
axis of the egg. As a rule the largest markings are on the big end of the
egg. They vary in length from r2O to 1*05 inch, and in breadth from
"85 to 79 inch.

Young in down are most beautiful little creatures ; they are buffish
chestnut on the throat and upper parts, mottled with black on the back
and head, two nearly white lines down the back, and white under parts, below
the breast, which is buffish in colour. Only one brood is reared in the year ;
but if the first clutch be destroyed, a second set of eggs is often laid. When
the young are hatched, the old birds are most attentive to them. I came
across a brood of these charming little birds in Shetland and watched them
for some time ; the old bird was so tame, and came so near me, in his
efforts to lead me from his young, that I dropped my cap over him and
took him in my hand. On releasing him again he fluttered about on the
ground quite close, and at last succeeded in getting his little charges into
the water, when they swam away and were soon hidden among the leaves
of the bog-bean, which covered most of the little pools.

PLATE I
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. Pkalaropus kyperboreus.

June z6th, 1897. — I photographed this nest in some marshy ground beside
a loch in the south of the Mainland of Shetland. I was wading about in some
small pools, watching five or six of these beautiful little birds, when I saw one
rise and fly away some distance to a flat piece of ground. I marked the place
and hurried towards it. On my way I put up another bird, so, dropping my
handkerchief, I went to the first place, and put up the little bird from her nest.
It contained four very typical eggs, and was concealed among some leaves of
the bog-bean. I took a photograph, which is here reproduced, and went back
to my handkerchief; as I stooped to pick it up, the little bird was about two
feet from it, and disclosed the second nest, containing three eggs.

I came across two broods already hatched, and spent some time watching
them. They were so absurdly tame that the old birds fed their little ones
with small insects within ten feet of us. The young ones, though evidently
not long hatched, picked at the leaves and grasses as they walked about on
their little shaky legs. They seemed much more at home on the water, where
they swam with ease, uttering a feeble 'peep-peep' from time to time.

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. Phalaropus hype, -bo, vu s.

ys NATURAL SIZE.

WOOD WREN

Pkylloscopus sibtlatnx

ALTHOUGH somewhat more local in its distribution than
its congeners the Willow Wren and Chiffchaff, the
Wood Wren is not an uncommon bird in the British
Islands, and is found in England, Scotland, and Ireland,
very plentifully in some localities. It is a summer visitor
to our Islands, wintering in the north of Africa.

The Wood Wren arrives in this country nearly a

fortnight later than its congeners, and in Scotland its song is rarely heard
until early in May. They arrive in perfect plumage, and almost rival the
delicate yellowish green of the young leaves among which they pass the day ;
on a sunny morning the woods appear to be full of them, and they seem
to answer each other in song from far and wide. For the first few days after
their arrival they are somewhat silent, and only their long-drawn, plaintive
call-note, ' tee-ii, tee-ii] is to be heard. After a few days' rest, however, they
burst forth into full song. The males seem to devote their whole attention
to nothing else ; they sing all day, sometimes when flying through the air,
more often sitting on some branch — wings, tail, and throat quivering with the
exertion. When once heard, the song of the Wood Wren can hardly be
forgotten ; it commences with a few chirping notes, gradually increasing in
rapidity till it ends in a peculiar shivering trill, the note gradually descending
chromatically. It may be represented on paper as follows, ' tit-tit-titr-rit-
r-r-rr-rrrr? Often at the end of the song the call-note is repeated three
times slowly, ' tee-ii, tee-ii, teee-uii!

The food of the Wood Wren is almost entirely composed of insects and

their larvae. This they obtain among the leaves of the trees and undergrowth,

searching under the leaves like the Tits, sometimes hanging under a branch

like a Tit, or hovering like the Willow Wren. They are most restless little

VOL. in. — i 33

birds when feeding — never still for an instant, sometimes darting after some
passing insect, or chasing each other in and out among the twigs. In early
autumn I have seen them eat the ripe elder-berries which had fallen on the
ground, and I took the skins of four of these berries from the stomach of a
bird of the year. They are very fond of the small green caterpillars which
may be seen hanging by a silken thread from the leaves in summer. It has
a curious habit of choosing some particular tree as its abode, and I have heard
a male sing daily throughout the entire summer from the same tree. Its flight
is undulating, and it has a peculiar habit of dropping down with half-expanded
wing on to its perch, reminding one rather of the Tree Pipit.

Nest-building commences in the end of May, eggs being laid in the last
few days of the month, or early in June. The nest is built always on the
ground. It is very difficult to find, and I have noticed that as a rule it is
some little way from the spot where the male is wont to sing. A small hollow
is usually prepared under the shelter of some tuft of grass or small plant. In
this the nest is built. It is semi-domed, like that of the Willow Wren, but
is never lined with feathers like the nest of that bird, being built of dry grass,
moss, and leaves, and lined with fine grass or horse-hair.

From five to seven eggs are laid, which are most beautiful when perfectly
fresh. They are pure white in ground-colour, freckled and blotched with dark
purplish brown and underlying markings of violet grey. Some specimens are
much more handsomely marked than others ; on some the markings form a
zone round one end of the egg, on others they are confluent, and form large
pale blotches of purple, while some are entirely covered with minute specks.
They vary from 70 to "62 inch in length, and from '60 to "54 in breadth, and
can hardly be compared with the eggs of any other British bird ; some eggs
are like miniature eggs of the Common Swallow, but have no red-brown spots
like the eggs of that bird.

PLATE I
WOOD WREN. Phylloscopus sibilatrix.

yd June 1896. — This Plate was taken from a lonely nest I came across on the
banks of the Findhorn in Morayshire. I heard the male singing, and watched
him for nearly three hours before I saw him join his mate. I watched her till
she went back to the nest, and the rest was simple. Unfortunately it was a
damp day, with a fine drizzling rain coming steadily down, and as it was my
last day in the neighbourhood, I had to photograph the nest under these
unfavourable conditions.

WOOD WREN. Phylhscopus aibilatrix.

I/a NATURAL SIZE.

ARCTIC TERN

Sterna macrura

Arctic Tern is without doubt the most abundant of
all the Terns which visit our Islands to rear their young.
It breeds in most suitable localities throughout our Islands,
from the Shetlands to the Scilly Isles.

The Arctic Tern differs very little from its congener
the Common Tern in its habits. Like that bird, it loves an
isolated spot in which to rear its young, preferring some

low rocky island, or sandy promontory which is not much disturbed. It arrives
on our coasts during the latter half of April, and commences its migration
in the end of August, gradually working southwards through September and
October. Like all the Terns it is gregarious, and breeds in colonies, varying
in numbers from only a few pairs to thousands of birds. It prefers uninhabited
islands for nesting purposes, and is often found associating with the Common
Tern, and sharing the same island, but the respective colonies are usually
separate. On the wing, it is a most graceful bird, beating along the coast with
slow easy motions of its long pointed wings, hovering now and then, like some
Hawk, as it spies some unfortunate fish, and plunging down into the water with
a tremendous splash, rising anon with its silvery prey held crosswise in its
sharp bill. It rarely perches on the ground, except during a storm, or when
gorged with food, but is often seen sitting on the top of some post in the
water. Occasionally it may be seen floating lightly on the water, its wings
and tail held high ; but it never dives, and seldom swims for any distance ;
even when wounded, it continues to attempt to fly rather than seek safety by
swimming out to sea.

The cry of the Arctic Tern is a loud long-drawn ' keee-aarr} or ' krr-eeej
common to most of the Terns, but its alarm-notes are a short sharp ' kik'
VOL. in. — K 37

sometimes ' keeer! Its food is chiefly composed of small fry, little fishes,
small crabs, shrimps, sand-eels, and other marine creatures.

The breeding-season commences in the end of May, and from that date
till well on in June fresh eggs may be obtained. The favourite situations
for its nests are among the long lines of broken reeds, dead grass, bits of
cork, wood and seaweed which mark the limit of the high storm-tides of
winter. Sometimes the eggs are laid on the bare sand, or amongst the
coarse pebbles and shingles close down to high-water mark ; very little
trouble is taken, as a rule, in the construction of the nest. A few scraps of
dry grass, or pieces of seaweed, straws, or feathers are deposited in the hollow
prepared for the reception of the eggs. In one place only I have seen large
bulky nests ; this was on the huge beds of coarse gravel on the outside of the
old Bar in Morayshire. Here I have seen large collections of dead seaweed,
sticks, dead grass and feathers of Gulls.

The eggs of the Arctic Tern are from two to three in number, and go
through the most extraordinary varieties of colour and markings. They may
have the ground-colour any shade of buff or buffish brown, and olive greens
and browns, sometimes reaching quite a rich dark brown. They are blotched,
spotted, and streaked with rich dark brown and purplish black surface-markings
and large inky grey underlying spots. As a rule they are more boldly blotched
than those of the Common Tern. One most beautiful variety has the ground-
colour pale pea-green. Its surface-marks are few in number, large, and of a rich
reddish brown, and there are large irregular underlying markings of purplish
grey. They vary in length from i "58 to i '47 inch, and in breadth from i '22 to
1*05 inch.

Young in down are greyish brown on the upper parts, mottled with black ;
the throat, forehead, and sides of the head are dull black, and the under parts
are pure white suffused with a brownish tinge on the flanks and vent.

The Arctic Tern guards its breeding-haunts most jealously, and should
some Gull or Skua come too near their colony, it is mobbed by the entire
community and hastily driven off. I watched with great interest a tremendous
battle between three or four Arctic Terns and a Richardson's Skua, on a small
island in Shetland. The Skua eventually settled on the ground ; but the little
birds swooped down on him so fiercely, one after another, that the robber had
to beat a hasty retreat.

PLATE I
ARCTIC TERN. Sterna macrura.

4///, 1895. — This nest was photographed on Staples Island, one of the
Fame group, off the coast of Northumberland. The drift-weed at high-water
mark was covered with their eggs, and in some places it was very difficult to
avoid stepping on some of them. We saw hundreds of nests, and the varieties
of colour were most wonderful. I took two perfectly white eggs, and one of
a beautiful dull green, absolutely spotless ; the other eggs in each case were
perfectly normal in colouring and size, so I was at a loss to account for their
peculiarity.

All the time we were at this colony the whole air was filled with thousands
of Terns, both Common and Arctic, all shrieking at once, so that the Babel
was tremendous. The Black-backed Gulls were constantly attempting to rob
the nests, but were almost invariably driven off by the pugnacious little
Terns, before they could achieve their intention. The larger Sandwich Terns,
however, were not so brave in defending their nests, and their eggs were
destroyed wholesale.

ARCTIC TERN. Sterna macnira.

•• , NATURAL SIZE.

GOOSANDER

Mergus merganser

[URING winter the Goosander is a fairly common visitor
to the British Islands, and is met with in most suitable
localities both on the coast and inland. It is perhaps not
quite so abundant in Ireland. It breeds sparingly in
Strathspey and the neighbouring districts, and has occurred
in a few other localities in the north of Scotland.

The Goosander is a slightly larger bird than the

Mallard. It swims and dives with great ease, but walks very awkwardly on
land, as its legs are set very far back, like those of the Cormorant. It flies
with great ease and rapidity, as its wings are longer than is usual with diving
ducks. It seems to prefer rivers and inland lochs to the sea-coast, and likes
a wild part of the country, abounding in forest-trees, swamps, rivers and
rocky shores of lakes.

Its note is wild and harsh, not unlike the guttural ' karrr, karrr ' of many
of the Diving Ducks. Its food consists principally of fish, which it obtains
by diving, but it also takes water-insects and small molluscs. Its serrated
bill allows it to hold its slippery prey with ease. When captured, a fish is
always brought to the surface to be swallowed, and the bird generally drinks
after accomplishing this, and stretches out its neck two or three times.

The Goosander is a fairly early breeder, eggs being laid in April. In
this country the site usually chosen is a hollow tree, generally an alder, as
that tree affords the best holes for the purpose, but there are one or two
records of the nest being found in holes in the ground, generally in a peat
bank or under the root of some tree. In Strathspey there are many alders
with holes in them specially adapted for nesting sites, and in this locality
the Goosander has increased rapidly during the last few years. I have seen
pairs of Goosanders on most of the lochs in the Trossachs, often as late as
VOL. in. — L 41

the middle of May, but have been able to procure no records of their having
bred in the neighbourhood.

Nests which I have examined are usually but scantily lined with a little
moss mixed with a small quantity of pale grey down. The hole is sometimes
very deep. I found one nest in Rothiemurchus, where the bird entered at a
round hole some eleven feet from the ground, while the nest was at the
bottom of the hollow trunk on a level with the ground ; the eggs in this
nest could be distinctly seen by applying the eye to a small crack in the
trunk. This nest I discovered when tapping the trees for Crested Tits' nests ;
on hitting the tree with my stick I heard a tremendous scrambling inside,
and presently the duck emerged from the round hole above my head and flew
away. This nest was again tenanted in the following year.

The Goosander lays from seven to twelve eggs ; they are creamy white
in colour; sometimes, but rarely, a rich pale buff, and rather glossy, with a
somewhat smooth grain. They resemble the eggs of the Scoters ; but the
down, which is uniform greyish white, is a safe identification, as also the site
of the nest. They vary from 2*35 to 2-48 inches in length, and from i'9 to
178 inch in breadth.

PLATE I
GOOSANDER. Mergus merganser

May 26tk, 1896. — The tree depicted in this Plate was in Glen More forest,
Strathspey, and contained a Goosander's nest. This tree has been tenanted
yearly since 1894 to my knowledge, possibly by the same pair of birds.

About three miles from this place, I came upon another hollow alder
containing a nest of this species, on a flat piece of ground in a steep glen
beside a rushing stream. I spent two mornings watching this nest, and was
rewarded by seeing the old bird remove her nine ducklings from the hole,
which was vertical, and nearly six feet deep. How she got up inside I cannot
tell, as the hole was not wide enough to enable her to use her wings, and was
only six and a half inches across at the orifice. However, she appeared each
time with a young bird, sometimes in her bill, sometimes held between her
breast and her bill, and once she let one fall from the mouth of the hole on to
the heather below. The young bird was apparently none the worse. When the
last duckling had been safely got down, she led them down the burn, never
having noticed me as I sat huddled up behind some big stones on the other
side of the water. It took considerably more than an hour to carry down all
the little ones. The drake did not appear upon the scene.

Young in down are dark brown on the upper parts, shading into reddish
brown on the head and sides of the neck. The under parts are white, as
also are the lores, which are margined above and below with dark brown.
There is a white patch on each wing, one on each side of the back, and one
on each side of the rump.

GOOSANDER. Mergtis merganser.

GREEN FINCH

Fnngilla ckloris

>HE Greenfinch is a common resident throughout the British
Islands, and is one of the best known of all the British
Finches, probably because of its fondness for the orna-
mental trees and shrubs in our gardens and parks, and
round about our houses.

The Greenfinch is generally found about the large
hedges, dividing the fields, in small plantations of orna-
mental trees, or in woods composed of spruce-firs, preferring the outskirts of
the latter. In such localities it is common during the breeding-season, and
being rather a shy, retiring bird at this time of year, tries to keep out of sight
as much as possible, though its song may often be heard. In spring, when
the males are in full song, their notes are soft and pleasing ; but during the
nesting-season they leave off their singing to a great extent, and only their
call-note, a somewhat long-drawn ' zie-aze] is heard. The flight of the Green-
finch is undulating, the wings being almost closed during the. dip in the
flight, and they constantly utter a short note, ' ytk-ytk-ytitj as they fly.

The food of the Greenfinch consists chiefly of grain and various seeds,
but it is also made up of insects, grubs, etc. ; and although the bird may be
seen frequently in the fields of ripe grain, it is chiefly for the sake of the
seeds of many of the grasses and weeds, which are ripe at the same time.

The Greenfinch is a rather late breeder, and eggs are seldom to be found
before the end of April. The birds are very sociable during the breeding-season,
and numbers of their nests are often placed in quite a small patch of orna-
mental trees. The Greenfinch's nest may be found in the larger hedges, in
the fruit-trees in our gardens, in the patches of tall whins on waste land, or
in plantations of young spruce-firs ; but the favourite place is among the
evergreen trees and bushes in our shrubberies. If the bird has any preference
VOL. in. — M 45

for one particular kind of tree, it is the yew, and three or four nests may
often be found in the same tree, cunningly hidden among the smaller twigs,
generally where two or three form a sort of fork.

The nest is built of moss, dry grass, small roots and wool, generally
with a few slender twigs woven in, and is lined with moss first, and finally
with wool, feathers and hair, sometimes entirely with fine roots. Some nests
are much more carefully made than others, but they are always exceedingly
pretty, with the white, red-spotted eggs forming a contrast to the dark green
of the surrounding foliage and the nest with its brownish lining. The nest
is sometimes, though more rarely, found among the ivy or rose-trees trained
up the sides of a house. The most beautiful nest I have ever seen was
among a mass of Gloire-de-Dijon roses, close to a window. The bird was
exceedingly tame, and would suffer herself to be stroked while on the nest.

The Greenfinch often begins to sit as soon as the first egg is laid, and
becomes very anxious if any one should come too near the nest, flying about
above the intruder's head, uttering her plaintive note, being joined almost at
once by the male, who is never very far from the nest. The Greenfinch
rears two broods in the year, as a rule, sometimes even a third. The young
of the first broods may often be seen in small flocks in the grass fields in
summer, as they are cast adrift by their parents as soon as they can fend
for themselves.

Eggs of the Greenfinch are very easily confused with those of the Gold-
finch and Linnet; indeed, it is impossible to distinguish between small eggs
of the Greenfinch and large eggs of the two latter birds. They vary in
number from four to six, and are pure white in ground-colour, sometimes
slightly tinged with blue or faint green ; they are spotted, blotched, or
streaked with purplish brown, and underlying markings of pinkish brown.
The markings are very frequently nearly all on the large end of the egg,
and the underlying marks are generally pretty nearly the same in size and
numbers as the surface ones. Some eggs are covered with dark, streaky
markings, and others have hardly any spots at all. They vary in length
from '87 to 70 inch, and in breadth from '60 to '53 inch.

PLATE I
GREENFINCH. Fringilla chloris

THIS nest was selected from some eighteen or twenty others found in one large
laurel hedge near Doune, Perthshire, as an excellent type of the Greenfinch's
nest, when it is near ploughed fields, being, under such conditions, frequently
almost entirely made of root-fibres picked up by the birds. The outside
of the nest was made of moss and coarse grass-roots, and it was lined with
very fine root-fibres, beautifully interwoven with a little hair. The bird was
very tame, and I almost succeeded in getting her into the plate on two
occasions, as she hopped from twig to twig round the nest. In the same
hedge, not far from the nest photographed, I found two nests on the same
branch, and only twenty-two inches apart, the one being almost directly above
the other. Both birds were sitting on five eggs when I found them.

GREENFINCH. Friiigil/a Moris.

% NATURAL SIZE.

COMMON GULL

Larus canus

Common Gull is a resident in the British Islands. It
breeds in various localities in Scotland and Ireland, both
inland and on the coast, and is found breeding on the
Hebrides, the Orkneys, and Shetlands. During the
winter it wanders further south, and is a common visitor
to the greater part of the English coasts, wandering far
inland in mild open weather.

The Common Gull is more or less gregarious in its habits, and is usually
seen in flocks, but single pairs may occasionally be met with, feeding by
themselves. Some of its breeding colonies are very large, whilst others
consist of only a few pairs, and in some localities single nests may be found
at intervals along the coast. It breeds just as readily inland as on the coast,
but seems to have a decided preference for rocks or stones on which to stand.
When its colonies are very large, it chooses flat open ground. A colony in
Morayshire was situated on a patch of bare sandy ground, covered with dead
sticks of whin and broom. In Shetland I found a few pairs breeding on
a low grassy island in company with many Richardson's Skuas. In many
places it breeds in large numbers on the grassy ledges of cliffs, both on islands
and on the mainland, and often nests on the little bunches of sea-pink growing
among the rocks on the shore.

Its call-notes are loud and harsh, sometimes resembling the syllables
' keee-yo^lkl or ' kyaah' perhaps more often a whistling ' keeeeaa! It has also
a habit of calling like the Herring Gull, ' kee-ouk, kee-ouk, eyouk, yotik, youk, ouk
generally when sitting on some rock or mound. It feeds both inland and on
the sea, sometimes following the plough for worms and grubs, sometimes
catching fish in the sea, or picking up refuse on the beach. It is especially
VOL. in. — N 49

fond of frequenting harbours for the scraps of offal which it picks up, or
meadows irrigated by sewage.

Nesting operations are commenced during the last half of May in this
country, and fresh eggs may be found till well on in June, especially if the
first nests be robbed of their contents. The nest is an untidy one, loosely
constructed of dead grass, sea-campion, bits of sea-pink torn up by the roots,
and a few large feathers, or straws, and is generally placed in some niche in
the rocks, on some grassy ledge on the cliffs, or on swampy ground, sometimes
among the heather on some moor. I have seen a nest placed on the top of a
turf dyke in Shetland.

Three is the usual number of eggs laid. They are subject to a good deal
of variation, though they do not go through such infinite varieties as those
of the Black-headed Gull. The ground-colour may be any shade from pale buff
to dark olive-brown, sometimes even rich dark brown ; many specimens have
pale pea-green ground-colour, varying to dark olive-green. The spots are
seldom very large. Surface-markings are various shades of brown, sometimes
very nearly black, and the underlying markings are sometimes brownish grey,
and sometimes purplish grey, according to the nature of the ground-colour.
The markings are generally most abundant on the large end of the egg, and
take the form of irregular blotches. I have taken some specimens covered with
curious irregular scrawlings all over the surface, and have one clutch which is
very dark brown at the large end, tapering to a dirty white at the point of
the egg ; there are almost no markings on these specimens. The eggs vary in
length from 2*40 to 2' 12 inches, and in breadth from i'75 to 1*58 inches.

Young in down are greyish buff mottled on the upper parts with very
dark brown. Only one brood is reared in the year. The young in down can
run with some speed when alarmed, but prefer to crouch down in some
hollow, or beside some stone or tuft of grass, trusting to their protective
colouring to escape notice. The old birds are very careful of their progeny,
and will swoop down angrily at any one who ventures too near.

PLATE I
COMMON GULL. Larus canus

June 28//z, 1897. — This nest was photographed on one of the small rocky
islets lying off the island of St. Ninians, in the south of Shetland. The
fisherman, who put me across, told me that they took the Gull's eggs for
food, but allowed the birds to sit on the third laying. We saw several
nests in similar places, and one well-grown young bird.

This group of little islands is a most fascinating place in the breeding-
season, although there are no rarities. The grassy flower-clad tops of the
islands are the home of the Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls ; some-
times too a pair of Eiders have their nest among the long grass. On the steep
rocky faces the Shags build their nests, and the holes among the boulders
and ddbris at the base of these miniature cliffs are tenanted by the Black
Guillemot and Puffin. Among the jagged rocks and small patches of sea-
pink, the naturalist may find an Oyster-catcher's nest, or here and there a
pair of Common Gulls, and in some of the little holes among the rich soil
on the summit the Stormy Petrel builds. The grey colour of the rocks,
covered here and there with red and yellow lichens, the bright green grass,
the patches of pale pink of the sea-pink in bloom, with a background of
deep blue sea, and white sea-birds screaming in the air, make up one of the
most pleasing pictures one can well behold.

COMMON GULL. Lams Camis.
Vs NATURAL SIZE.

CUCKOO

Cuculus canorus

HE Cuckoo is a regular summer visitor to most parts of
the British Islands, including the Outer Hebrides and
the Orkneys ; to the Shetlands, however, it is only an
occasional visitor.

From its peculiar notes, the Cuckoo is perhaps the
best-known bird in the British Islands. It is a most
widely distributed species, and there is hardly a single

district, either on the coast or inland, where it is not seen during the summer.
Its stay in our Islands is somewhat short. It generally arrives in England
about the middle of April, and leaves our shores again in August and
September. Curiously enough, the old birds go first and the young
somewhat later, reversing the usual order of proceeding among migratory
species. I have frequently flushed the young birds from the long heather on
the moors in September, long after the old birds had departed for the south.
Its curious hawk-like flight is almost too well known to need description.
Almost every one must have seen it flying from tree to tree, uttering its curious
call, ' cuck-koo, cuck-koo? — sometimes as its flies, but perhaps most often as it
sits on some fence-post, wall, or branch of a tree. When perched, the note is
generally accompanied by a jerking and spreading of the tail. The males
begin to call soon after they arrive, and their loud clear note may be heard
from some way off. In early summer a curious choking sound, rather
like a hoarse laugh, is often uttered after the usual call, which is sometimes
lengthened into three notes, — either ' cuc-ciic-koo! or ' cnc-koo-koo.' The cry of
the female is a hoarse ' kwook-kwoiv-kwow-kwow' generally uttered when flying.
Its short neck, long tail, and rapid flight gives it rather the appearance of
a Sparrow Hawk on the wing. But the small birds are not the least afraid
of it, and usually follow it about from place to place, mobbing it most un-
VOL. in. — o 53

mercifully. The male bird usually selects some suitable haunt, from which it
seldom strays far during the summer; it is rather a shy bird, and prefers to
keep out of sight among the trees.

The food of the Cuckoo consists chiefly of beetles, moths, butterflies,
caterpillars and other insects, the indigestible portions of which, such as the
wing-covers of beetles and the hairs of caterpillars, are ejected from the mouth
in the form of pellets.

The most interesting fact in the Cuckoo's history is that it does not rear
it own young, but deposits its eggs on the ground, carrying them in its bill
to the nests of other birds, where it leaves them to the care of the foster-
parents. Some discrimination is exercised in the choice of a foster-parent ; an
insectivorous bird is nearly always chosen, and in Great Britain the Pied
Wagtail and the Meadow-Pipit are the greatest favourites. Sometimes, owing
to the scarcity of insectivorous birds in the district, the Cuckoo is compelled
to deposit its egg in the nest of some Finch or Bunting : the young bird,
however, seems to thrive just as well. The Cuckoo's egg is remarkably small
in proportion to the size of the bird, and is usually placed, perhaps on
purpose, in the nest of some small bird, so that the nestling monopolises the
attention of the parent birds, and eventually ejects its foster brothers and
sisters from the nest. In only one case have I heard of a young Cuckoo
failing to destroy the entire brood. This came under my own notice. The
Cuckoo was reared in a Robin's nest built in some thick ivy on a low wall ;
all the Robins were ejected from the nest six days after the young Cuckoo
was hatched. One was still living, so I replaced him in the nest. On returning
next morning I found only the young Cuckoo in the nest, but the Robin had
taken up its position among the rootlets of the ivy beside the nest, from which
position the Cuckoo was unable to dislodge it. Both birds eventually flew.

The eggs of the Cuckoo are subject to great variation in colouring. As
a rule, they somewhat resemble those eggs amongst which they have been
placed, but sometimes there is a marked difference, in which case it is probable
that the bird has been unable to find a suitable nest in which to place her egg,
and has had to be content with the first she came across. Five eggs are said
to be laid in the season (Bidwell, Zoologist, 1883), at intervals of seven or
eight days. The eggs of each bird probably vary but little in character and
colouring. They vary in length from ro4 to '85 inch, and in breadth from
•75 to -6o inch.

PLATE I
CUCKOO. Cucuhis canorus.

May I7//Z, 1894. — While walking along the shore of the Lake of Monteith,
Perthshire, one day, I saw a Cuckoo rise from the ground in front of me
hotly pursued by a pair of Reed Buntings. On searching the spot, I found
a nest of the latter species with a Cuckoo's egg in it.

The egg was pinkish buff in ground-colour, minutely speckled all over with
brownish marks, and was evidently intended to have been deposited in a Tree
Pipit's nest, as it was almost identical in colour with a clutch of eggs I took
the same day not a quarter of a mile from this place. The Reed Buntings
followed the Cuckoo for nearly half a mile, mobbing it, and did not return
to the vicinity of the nest for nearly three-quarters of an hour, though the
eggs were well incubated.

CUCKOO. Ciiculus canonis.
1/2 NATURAL SIZE.

Plate I.

PLATE II
CUCKOO. Ciiculus canorus

Jtme i8///, 1897. — This nest was shown me by a lad, who was working in the
gravel-pit where the nest was placed. In this case the young bird was reared
by a pair of Pied Wagtails. When I saw it, it was nearly full-fledged, and
snapped its bill with a loud sound, not unlike '&?/,' when I stooped to look
at it. Owing to the intense glare of the bright sun, the nest is in deep
shadow, but the white spots of the fan-like tail of the young Cuckoo may
be seen.

The Wagtails flew around uneasily all the time I was at the nest,
showing great anxiety; they each carried large juicy green caterpillars in
their bills.

VOL. in. — p 57

CUCKOO. Ctifit.'ns canorus.

Plait //.

HEDGE-SPARROW

Accentor modularts

NE of the most familiar of our smaller birds is the Hedge-
Sparrow. It is a resident in our Islands, and is one of
the most widely distributed of our native birds, being
found in all districts throughout the British Islands,
except in some of the barest and most desolate tracts of
country. It is found on most of the Hebrides, and is a
straggler to the Orkneys and Shetlands.

The favourite haunts of the Hedge-Sparrow are the gardens, shrubberies,
hedges and plantations in well-cultivated districts. In winter it comes close
to our houses, and is generally to be seen about the farmyard, hopping in and
out of some heap of firewood, or stealing tiny scraps of the food put down for
the hens. It attracts little attention as it hops about among the lower
branches of the bushes, or shuffles along the bottom of some hedge, and
seldom takes wing, if it can possibly escape notice by gliding under the
foliage. Its flight is slow and jerky, and seldom is prolonged for any
distance. It has a habit of jerking its wings as it hops about among the
twigs. It is a bird of the bushes, and is seldom seen among the higher
branches of trees.

Like the Robin, the Hedge-Sparrow sings intermittently throughout the
whole year. On any bright sunny day in winter the little songster may be
seen in some sheltered spot, perched on the topmost twig of some bush or
hedge, pouring forth his plaintive little song. It is a sweet enough production,
very short and attractive, reminding one somewhat of the Wren's song. The
call-notes are low and penetrating, somewhat resembling the syllables ' creeee,
cheeee.' During winter the males may sometimes be seen chasing each other
angrily through the bushes, and are at this season unusually clamorous. The
Hedge-Sparrow is almost the last bird to go to roost, and his plaintive note

may be heard among the undergrowth long after the short winter day has
drawn to a close.

The food of the Hedge-Sparrow is composed of worms, grubs, and insects,
sometimes a few small seeds are eaten, particularly in hard weather, when it
picks about in the stackyards near the farms.

It is rather an early breeder, sometimes commencing to build its nest in
the first days of April. It is never very far from the ground, and is nearly
always very carefully concealed. Perhaps the favourite site is in some thick
hedge, where it is carefully protected by the sharp thorns all round ;
sometimes it is placed in a thicket of brambles, or in a thick ornamental
shrub ; a stack of pea-sticks, a heap of firewood, or an ivy-covered wall is
sometimes chosen, and more rarely it is built in some mass of twigs growing
out of some tree trunk. I once came across a nest of this species, containing
five eggs, on the mossy bottom of a dried-up well, half-way up the Bass
Rock.

The nest is a beautiful little structure ; the outside is built chiefly of
green moss strengthened with small twigs and a dead leaf or two ; it is lined
with a profusion of wool, hair, and a few feathers. From four to six eggs
are laid. They are of a beautiful greenish blue colour, somewhat rough in
texture and without markings of any kind ; they are easily to be distinguished
from those of the Redstart, which are somewhat lighter in colour and rather
glossy. They vary in length from '82 to 74 inch, and in breadth from
•65 to -55 inch. Two or three broods appear to be reared in the year, as
fresh eggs are often found during the latter half of July. When driven from
its nest the Hedge-Sparrow does not go far away, and may be seen hopping
about among the twigs only a few feet distant

PLATE I
HEDGE-SPARROW. Accentor modularis

May yd, 1896. — The nest from which this Plate is taken was built in a
small spruce, in a large wood in South Perthshire. In another small tree of
the same species, not twenty yards off, I found a second nest, in which
there were five eggs, all of which had been sucked by some animal, presumably
a mouse.

VOL. in. — o 61

HEDGE-SPARROW. Accentor modularit.
1/3 NATURAL SIZE.

HOODED CROW

Corvus cornix

N Scotland the Hooded Crow is pretty widely distributed,
and breeds in suitable localities, including the Orkneys
and Shetlands. In England, however, it is chiefly known
as a winter visitor, though a few pairs breed in various
localities. In Ireland it is a common and widely distributed
species.

The favourite haunts of the Hooded Crow are the

moors, forests, and hill-farms, where it is alike detested by the gamekeeper and
the shepherd on account of the depredation it commits. It preys on every
creature which it can overpower, killing weakly lambs, young hares and
rabbits, and destroying the eggs and young of all kinds of birds. On
finding a nest it does not rest until it has appropriated the entire contents ;
even young birds are carried off to some quiet corner, where they are torn
to pieces and devoured.

The food of the Hooded Crow is chiefly composed of carrion and animal
flesh, but so voracious is his appetite, that nothing comes amiss to him. A
dead sheep rarely lies on the hills for a few hours without having both the
eyes gouged out. On the coast he feeds on the garbage cast up by the tide,
dead fish and scraps of offal and shell-fish, especially mussels, which he carries
up into the air and breaks by letting them fall upon the stones beneath.
The newly ploughed fields are carefully searched for worms and grubs, and
the stubble-fields, in autumn, for scattered grain. In the breeding-season his
depredations are extensive ; no nest is safe from him. He may be seen
quartering on the ground watching for some Grouse's or Duck's nest, which
he will entirely destroy. On the coast, piles of broken shells may be found on
some patch of short grass, whither he carries them impaled on his powerful
bill, to devour them at his leisure.

The cry of the Hooded Crow is a hoarse ' krdaaj often repeated two or
three times in succession ; sometimes a double note is heard like the syllables
' kurruck.' Early in the year, during the pairing-season, he utters a variety of
notes, often opening and closing his wings, spreading his tail, and performing
other curious evolutions in the air.

It is a somewhat later breeder than its congeners, and seldom begins
nest-building before the middle of April. It probably pairs for life. A
variety of sites are chosen for the nest ; sometimes it is in a tree, sometimes
on a cliff, either by the sea or inland, and occasionally on the ground beside
some stone on a steep heathery bank. The nest is composed of a bulky
foundation of large sticks, twigs, dead heather stalks, old bones, reeds, turf,
etc. — in fact, anything that comes handy, and is lined with a few feathers
and much wool, rabbits' fur, and hair. Some nests, especially those on cliffs,
are enormous structures, as the birds return to the same habitation year
after year. The outside materials of the nest are usually whitened and
bleached by the weather in such situations. The cup which is prepared for
the reception of the eggs is beautifully soft and rather deep, and the nest
generally swarms with vermin, especially when the young are hatched.

From four to five eggs are laid ; they vary from pale green to bluish
green in ground-colour, spotted, blotched, or streaked with olive-brown of
different shades, and violet-grey underlying markings ; some specimens have a
few black hair-like scrawlings on the large end of the egg. On some eggs
the markings are so numerous as to hide much of the ground-colour, on others
they are very few, while on a few specimens the markings are so faint as
to be almost invisible.

They vary in length from 1-84 to 1-50 inch, and in breadth from
i-38 to i '05 inch. They are absolutely indistinguishable from those of the
Carrion Crow.

PLATE I
HOODED CROW. Corvus comix

April 25///, 1897. — The nest from which this Plate is taken was built among
the topmost branches of a small Scotch fir ; the tree was one of several, growing
on the edge of the moor beside a large wood. I saw the Crow fly off, and
climbed to the nest, expecting to find only one, or at the most two eggs, as in
South Perthshire (where the nest was) the Hooded Crow rarely begins to
lay before this date. I was agreeably surprised to find it contained five, so I
set about taking a photo of it. Fortunately there was another somewhat
taller tree growing quite close, and I succeeded in getting my camera fixed
on a long branch, and after sitting perfectly still for some minutes, hardly
daring to breathe till the swinging of the tree had stopped, I got a plate
exposed.

Within a two-mile radius of this spot I found no less than nineteen
nests of this destructive bird. I however succeeded in snaring twenty-three
birds on their nests with fine wire nooses, and took eighty-three eggs, — rather
a benefit to the game in the neighbourhood.

VOL. in. — R 65

HOODED CROW. Corvus comix.
1/5 NATURAL SIZE.

BLUE TIT
Parus c&ruleus

Blue Tit is one of the most widely distributed residents
in our Islands. It is found in almost every suitable
locality throughout the length and breadth of the
British Islands, including most of the adjacent islands 5
to the Orkneys and Shetlands, however, it is only a
straggler.

The Blue Tit is a most engaging little creature; his

grotesque antics and smart knowing look attract immediate attention ; he is
not the least shy, and may be watched from a few paces off as he clings to
the end of some twig, pecking the large buds to pieces for the grub which
is feeding on the heart. At first sight one would suppose that the Blue Tit
did great damage to the fruit-trees in spring. But examine the buds he has
dropped on the ground : each one has a hole bored in it by some small insect,
and would never have arrived at maturity. He is a most restless, noisy
little bird, and is continually calling to his companions as he searches the
twigs for food. The Blue Tit visits in its wanderings almost every place where
there are shrubs and trees ; orchards, gardens, fir plantations, beech-woods,
hedges and birch copses, are all carefully searched. About roosting-time
they become very noisy, and generally choose some ivy or yew-tree in which
to roost ; in very cold weather they are fond of roosting in holes in haystacks,
two or three birds sometimes huddling into the same hole for the sake of
warmth.

The food of the Blue Tit is very varied. It will eat almost anything :
all kinds of seeds and grain, fruit of various kinds, especially hard pears
and apples ; insects, grubs, and beetles of all kinds, are also greedily devoured,
and a bone is quite a treat, judging by the numbers of Tits which this
dainty collects. The call-notes of the Blue Tit are loud and penetrating,

generally rapidly repeated, and resemble sometimes the syllables ' dzoo-zee,
dzoo-zeej and sometimes ' zeeka-zeeka, zee-zee] followed now and then by a
churring note.

In the beginning of April Blue Tits may often be observed squeezing
themselves into all sorts of holes and crannies in walls or trees, looking
for a nesting-site ; but the actual work of nest-building is seldom commenced
before the beginning of May. The sites chosen are very varied, but a hole
is indispensable ; sometimes the hole chosen is in a tree, sometimes in a wall
or roof of an outhouse, and there are numberless instances of sites such as
pumps, tool-bags or post-boxes being chosen. The nest is a very loosely built
structure, consisting of a mass of moss and dry grass, lined with an immense
quantity of wool, hair, and feathers.

The eggs laid vary in number from five to nine, but nests are often found
which contain as many as twelve eggs. I once found sixteen eggs in one nest,
but they were very much mixed up in the lining, and four were addled, so I
concluded that the latter had remained in the nest since the previous season.
The eggs, like those of all the Tits, are white in ground-colour, rather faintly
speckled with light red, sometimes evenly all over, and sometimes with a zone
of spots round one end. They vary in length from 7 to -52 inch, and in
breadth from '5 to '42 inch.

The little bird defends her home most bravely, erecting her crest, hissing
violently, and pecking furiously at the hand of the ornithologist who is rash
enough to put it into the hole. One curious site I cannot help mentioning
came under my notice a year or two ago : two flower-pots, one within the other,
were standing on a window-sill, when a Blue Tit took possession of them,
building its nest in the space between the bottoms of the pots, obtaining access
by the hole cut for drainage.

PLATE I
BLUE TIT. Par us cceriileus

April 29/7^, 1896. — In the horizontal ash branch depicted in the Plate a pair
of Blue Tits were busily engaged in building their nest ; I found no fewer
than eight pairs of Tits nesting on this island on the Lake of Monteith, all in
hollow branches. After photographing the branch I ate my lunch, sitting on
a stone close by, and watched the little birds arriving with materials ; they
had evidently reached the stage of lining the nest, as I saw one of them
arrive with a large unwieldy mass of sheep's wool. It first tried to push this
into the hole, but finding this was impossible, it backed into the hole tail
first in a most comical manner, and succeeded in dragging the wool in after
it. Shortly after, the other bird arrived, and went into the hole with a small
feather. On going close up to the branch I heard a tremendous scrambling
going on down the hole, and much calling and chirping; no doubt the
piece of wool took a good deal of arranging.

VOL. in. — s 69

BLUE TIT. Pat-us itriilens.

WHIiMBREL

Numenius pkczopus

N Great Britain the Whimbrel is only known to breed in
the Shetland group. During the seasons of migration,
however, it is met with on all the British coasts.

The Whimbrel resembles a miniature Curlew, and in
many of its habits it closely resembles its larger relative-
It arrives on our shores about the first day of May, per-
forming its migration at night. On migration they chiefly

frequent low-lying coasts, and obtain their food on the mud-flats or salt
marshes, and are often seen in the green fields near the coast. They are not
nearly so shy and wary as the Curlew, and walk about on the flats with a
slow sedate step, seldom running; when alarmed, they stand with their long
necks stretched out looking around, before they hurriedly take to flight. On
migration they fly at an immense height, and are only to be recognised by
their peculiar cry. On the coast they seem to be very fond of washing
themselves, and may often be seen splashing about in some little pool left by
the tide.

The call-notes of the Whimbrel, once heard, can scarcely be forgotten ;
seven clear whistles are rapidly repeated one after the other, gradually
dropping chromatically, ' ko-kd-kd-ko-ko-ko-ko' ; when at their nests the alarm-
notes are ' krrr-looo ' or ' krrr-leeej somewhat like that of the Common
Curlew, but in a somewhat higher key.

Its food consists of insects, worms, small land shells, and occasionally
small berries ; when feeding on the coast during migration, sand-worms,
small crustaceans, and various marine animals form its chief means of
support.

The favourite breeding-haunts of the Whimbrel are the moors which
lie close to the sea. They generally arrive in Shetland early in May, and

nest-building is commenced soon after, eggs being laid towards the end of
the month. The nest is rather deep, but scantily lined, and consists of a
deepish hollow in the middle of some bunch of heath or grass lined with a
few heather stalks and pieces of dry grass. The Whimbrel lays four eggs,
rather like small eggs of the Curlew, but generally more handsomely marked.
They are sometimes pale olive green in ground-colour, sometimes rich green,
and sometimes pale brownish buff, blotched and spotted with reddish-brown
or olive brown surface-markings, and underlying markings of greyish brown.
Most of the larger blotches of colour are on the large end of the egg, but
sometimes the spots are evenly distributed over the entire surface. A very
handsome variety has the ground-colour pale clear green, richly blotched with
reddish brown surface-marks and a few buffish underlying spots. They vary in
length from 2^52 to 2'2 inch, and in breadth from 174 to i'6 inch.

Young in down are pale buffish grey, mottled rather faintly with dark
brown on the upper parts ; only one brood is reared in the year. The male
bird guards the nest most jealously, and rises screaming in the air to chase
off any bird which comes within a radius of nearly a hundred yards of the
nest. He will fearlessly chase off the Black-backed Gulls, buffeting them and
driving them successfully from the vicinity of the nests ; even the Skuas are
unmercifully mobbed by this pugnacious little bird. When leaving the nest
the female usually runs but a few yards before taking wing, so that the nests
are not difficult to find.

PLATE I
WHIMBREL. Numenius phceopus.

June 24///, 1897. — I photographed this nest on a low grassy island in Shetland,
where the birds, thanks to most vigorous protection, still breed in comparative
abundance. After taking some photographs, I lay down on a small knoll,
and amused myself by watching the Whimbrels through my glasses. As
they settled down again, the females ran straight to their nests without any
attempt to conceal the locality, and I easily marked all the nests I cared to
examine. The males were, most jealous guardians of their homes : not a bird
was allowed to fly past within a hundred yards without being driven off the
premises ; even the Black-backs flying lazily past were chased and driven to
a safe distance ; to the Eider Ducks, however, not the slightest attention
was paid.

VOL. in. — T 73

W H I M B R E L. Nunifttiiis f-hirofits.
1 NATURAL SIZE.

ROBIN

EnthacMs rubecula

F all our British birds, there is not one which is such a
general favourite as the Robin : it is so trustful, so cheery,
and so bold. Wherever there is a house, however lowly,
the Robin is sure to be found ; and from the universal
protection which is given it by all, it is very widely
distributed, and is a well-known bird throughout Great
Britain and Ireland, wherever there is a sufficiency of
cover to afford it shelter.

The haunts of the Robin vary slightly according to the season of the year.
In the depths of winter it draws nearer to the habitations of man, often actually
coming into the houses and picking up any tiny scraps of food it can find. In
summer it is abundant in the most secluded parts of the woods and glens,
where it retires to rear its young, though every homestead, orchard, and garden
has its pair of these confiding little birds nesting in them. In the early autumn
the Robin is not so often seen, as at that season it usually retires to the depths
of the woods and plantations to perform its annual moult, returning anon with
brighter plumage to cheer us with its presence through the long winter months.
Like the Hedge-Sparrow the Robin is a bird of the hedgerows, thickets,
and undergrowth, frequenting the shelter of evergreens, heaps of hedge clippings,
and stacks of pea-sticks. It seldom flies any distance, preferring to seek safety
among the denser parts of the undergrowth through which it creeps and shuffles
with amazing rapidity. Even when performing its yearly wanderings it rarely
flies any great distance at a time, or rises to any height in the air. It is a
restless little bird, and is almost constantly in motion, hopping out from under
the evergreens to pounce upon some worm or insect, and hastening back to its
shelter on the slightest suspicion of danger. When the gardener is digging
up some bed of rich soil the Robin is sure to be there watching him, gliding
VOL. in. — u 75

quickly to the newly turned soil, whenever a worm is exposed on the surface.
On the lawn the Robin may be seen in the spring mornings hopping out from
the bushes to look for small worms and slugs, stopping every now and then
with drooping wings and elevated tail, to listen ; again he utters a few sharp
call-notes, ' tic-tic-tic ;' dropping little curtsies the while, and looks fearlessly at
you with his dark, truthful eyes.

He is a most pugnacious bird, and lords it over the smaller birds in the
neighbourhood, guarding his favourite haunts most jealously, ever ready to do
battle with the intruder. He even fights most fiercely with his own species,
and a battle-royal between two cock Robins is no uncommon sight. I re-
member, when a small boy, trying to catch some sparrows under a garden riddle,
and as I was breathlessly watching from my ambush ready to jerk the string,
a Robin hopped boldly underneath and began to pick up the crumbs of bread.
Hardly had he begun his feast when another Robin darted down, and the
two birds engaged in a fierce combat under the riddle. In the course of
their struggles they knocked down the supporting stick and imprisoned them-
selves underneath. On going up to release them, I was surprised to find
them still at it, fluttering about and pecking viciously at each other.

The food of the Robin is principally composed of small earth-worms,
slugs, insects, and larvae during the summer months. During the fruit
season it feeds on wild fruits and berries, and sometimes takes a few of the
currants and cherries from gardens. In the depths of winter, when its usual
food is scarce, the Robin frequents the farmyards, piggeries, and poultry-runs
for the scraps of food which it picks up there, and seems to know that it is
a welcome guest.

Except during the autumn moult, the Robin sings incessantly throughout
the year, and although its song is not a very musical production, it has a
great charm about it, though it has a peculiarly sad tone. It is while singing
that the wonderful tameness of this little bird strikes one most forcibly. It
will sit within a few feet of the observer and pour forth its song, looking
trustfully at him, as if it knew what a general favourite it is. The call-
note is a sharp clear 'tic-tic-tic', uttered rapidly several times in succession,
and always accompanied with quick bobbing curtsies. In the nesting-season
it has a plaintive piping note when its nest or young are in danger, and
sometimes at that season it may be heard to utter a long hissing note.

The Robin is supposed to pair for life, and is rather an early breeder.
Its nest is placed in a variety of situations. Sometimes in holes in walls
or trees, in the tufts of grass under hedgerows, banks, or in woods, and

often in ivy-covered walls or trees. It sometimes selects peculiar sites for
building in, such as old tin boxes or cans lying half buried in the grass,
in old tool-bags in the gardener's potting-shed, even inside a conservatory,
where it goes in and out through a broken pane of glass. The nest is
usually very bulky, and has one very marked peculiarity in its construction —
the cup prepared to receive the eggs is at the extreme end of the hole in
which the nest is built, and the front of the nest is large and very much
extended. The nest is composed of a large foundation of withered leaves,
moss, and dry grass, with a rather deep and beautifully rounded cup lined
with hair, rootlets, and sometimes a little wool.

From five to eight eggs are laid, six being the usual clutch. They are
pure white in ground-colour, spotted, streaked, and freckled with various
shades of browns, reds, and a few greyish markings. Some specimens have
the markings collected into a zone round the larger end of the eggs, others
are nearly spotless white, while some are boldly blotched with rich dark
reddish-brown with a few very dark brown streaks and spots. They fade
considerably if kept for any length of time after being blown. They vary in
length from '9 to '69 inch, and from '65 to '55 inch in breadth.

VOL. in. — x

PLATE I
ROBIN. Rrithacus rubecula

May %tk, 1897. — This nest was placed in a hollow beneath the young fronds
of some large ferns growing on a steep bank beside a stream in South Perth-
shire. It was most beautifully built, and contained five fresh eggs.

I spoilt two plates trying to photograph the bird on the nest ; she was
quite tame enough to let me get my camera placed and focussed, but always
flew hurriedly from the nest when she heard the click of my time-shutter. I
tried an instantaneous exposure, but the light was not strong enough, as
there were too many trees overhead.

ROBIN. Erithacus rubtcula.
l/B NATURAL SIZE.

WREN

Troglodytes parvulus

HE Wren is a common and widely distributed bird through-
out the British Islands, and is to be met with on most
of the Outer Hebrides and in the Orkneys and Shetlands ;
even in far-off St. Kilda the Wren is to be found,
though the bird found there is recognised as a distinct
sub-species by some writers on account of its paler colour,
and the somewhat larger size of its bill and feet.

The Wren is one of the most familiar of our resident British birds, and
may often be seen hopping in and out of the windows of houses, farmyard
buildings, and stables, without the slightest sign of fear. It is a most restless
little bird, and seems to be always exploring somewhere, never still for a
moment, hopping and twisting in and out of the dense cover which it loves
to frequent, every now and then pouring forth its quaint little song. It is
rarely seen in the open, and always makes for the thickest part of the cover
if alarmed, sometimes even seeking safety by squeezing itself into some tiny
crevice in a dry stone dyke.

The Wren sings all the year round except during the early autumn, when
its annual moult is in progress. Its song is remarkably strong and powerful
compared with the size of the bird, and consists of a few short sharp
notes followed by a melodious trill, the whole repeated over and over again
in slightly different keys, and ceasing abruptly, sometimes in the middle of
a phrase. Its call-notes are short, sharp, and grating, and rapidly repeated
should it be alarmed.

The food of the Wren is largely composed of insects and their larvae,
ant's eggs, etc. ; fruit is also eaten in its season, and in the depths of
winter it joins the sparrows, chaffinches, and robins in searching for the
crumbs and scraps of food thrown out, small seeds of various grasses and
plants being also eaten occasionally in exceptionally hard weather.
VOL. in. — Y 8 1

The Wren is a solitary bird throughout the year, and is only observed
in small parties when the young have just flown from the nest; at this
season the young birds sometimes return to roost in the nest at night for
the first few days after they have flown, but at other times they roost in ivy-
covered walls and trees, dense evergreens, and in the holes in haystacks.

About the beginning of March the Wren selects a mate, but nest-building is
rarely commenced until well on in April. The selection of a nesting-site is very
varied. The nest, which is a marvellous production for the size of the tiny archi-
tect, may be found in the lonely forests of pines, in the hedgerows, in gardens,
shrubberies, and plantations, even on the bare moors, wherever there is an over-
grown tangle of bramble and bracken. A favourite site for the nest is in some
patch of thick brushwood overgrown with dead bracken and choked with dead
leaves. Sometimes it may be found jammed into some corner in an outhouse,
and I have seen it built in a deserted Swallow's nest in a stone passage inside
a house, the birds going in and out through the broken fanlight over the door.
The materials of which the nest is made vary according to the surroundings,
some being built entirely of green moss, others of dry grass, while some are
made of the dead fronds of bracken. The nest is domed, the hole which admits
the birds being in the side, but rather nearer the top than the bottom of the
nest ; round this orifice are woven little pieces of fir sticks, or tiny straws,
which greatly strengthen the structure. The inside is lined with a felting of
fine moss, feathers, and hair, though sometimes moss only is used. The safety
of the nest is usually dependent on the materials used in the construction of
the outside, which is made to harmonise as much as possible with the sur-
roundings. The nest, which sometimes takes more than a fortnight to complete,
is entirely built by the female, while the male usually carries to her the greater
part of the materials. Numbers of unoccupied nests, built by these little birds,
are frequently observed, though for what purpose they are meant is as yet a
mystery to most ornithologists. Probably they are used as roosting-places in
localities where other suitable shelter is not obtainable.

From four to six eggs are laid, though occasionally as many as eight or
nine may be found. They are pure white in ground-colour, very sparingly
marked with small red spots, which are sometimes collected in a zone round
the larger end of the egg, and sometimes evenly distributed over the surface ;
some specimens are entirely without markings. They are subject to considerable
variations in shape, some being much elongated, while others are short and
round. They vary in length from 74 to '62 inch, and in breadth from '55 to
•46 inch.

PLATE I
WREN. Troglodytes parvulus

May ith, 1897. — Island of Inch Talla, Lake of Monteith. I had some difficulty
in finding this nest, as it was so well concealed. It was built under a small
clump of fern and bramble, growing out of the corner of a ruined piece of
masonry, and I disturbed the Wren by kicking a spray of the bramble while
setting up my camera to photograph a Blackbird's nest in a hole in the wall
just above it.

Although I saw the Wren fly out, I took a minute or two to discover the
nest, so beautifully was it concealed. I was focussing my camera on it when
the Wren flew back and quietly entered the nest again, although I was standing
within five feet of it. It contained five eggs.

WREN. Troglodytes parvulus.
I/O NATURAL SIZE.

ROOK

Corvus frugtlegus

>HE Rook is perhaps the best-known of all our British birds,
partly on account of its numbers, and partly because of its
fondness for establishing its colonies in the immediate
vicinity of houses and villages. It abounds everywhere,
throughout the British Islands, where cultivation has spread,
and visits the outlying islands, such as Skye, the Outer
Hebrides, and the Orkneys and Shetlands, on some of
which it occasionally breeds.

The favourite haunts of the Rook are the well-cultivated districts, inter-
spersed with plantations and large trees, parks and pleasure-grounds seeming
to have a very strong attraction for them. In some of our towns colonies of
Rooks have been totally surrounded by buildings, and they rear their young
quite unconcernedly amid the roar of the traffic, so strong is their attachment
to their old nesting-quarters. The Rook is strictly a gregarious bird in all
its habits, whether during the nesting-season or the rearing of their young,
or during the summer and autumn, when they move about often in enormous
numbers. These gatherings very often embrace the inhabitants of several
colonies, the whole flock travelling, feeding, and roosting together. Towards
the end of winter they break up during the day, and visit their respective
nesting-quarters, returning at night to rejoin the other colonies at the common
roosting-ground.

The note of the Rook is a loud harsh ' kraw, kraw,' or ' krah, krak,' but
many modulations of their cry may be heard towards evening, when they are
gathering at their roosting-quarters.

Its food is very varied : it visits the pasture-lands in the early morning
to feed on the snails, grubs, and worms which abound there ; in sowing-time
it searches the cornfields for wire-worms and grubs of all kinds, taking its
VOL. in. — z 85

toll of scattered grain ; and in winter it frequents the potato-fields, and turnips
are often destroyed during frost by the holes which it bores in these roots
with its powerful bill. When the stubble fields are being ploughed up large
gatherings of Rooks are seen following the plough, and eagerly devouring the
worms and grubs as they are turned up. Like most of the Crows, Rooks
are almost omnivorous : carrion is greedily devoured by them ; they are fond
of acorns, and may be seen pulling them from the oak-trees in autumn ;
beech-nuts and various berries are also taken at that season.

In Scotland, where the cultivated parts of the country are not so extensive
as in England, the Rook is an inveterate egg-stealer, and I have known them
destroy the entire contents of a Mallard's nest in a few hours. In some
districts they may be seen regularly quartering the fields in search of
Lapwings' nests.

Towards the end of February the Rooks begin to repair their nests,
remaining longer and longer at the rookery each day ; but until the eggs are
laid they do not roost there. The building of the nest takes some time ; one
of the birds usually remains at the nest while the other is away in search of
materials, as Rooks will steal from each other's nests, and seem to be very
quarrelsome during the building-season. By the first week in March they are
hard at work, and may be seen tugging and struggling with the twigs, breaking
off little pieces, which they carry to their nests, spending some time in arranging
them to their satisfaction.

The foundation of the nest is composed of sticks of various sizes, from
slender twigs to heavy pieces of branches, fully three-quarters of an inch in
diameter, often thickly cemented together with clay and mud, and lined with
lumps of turf, plants torn up by the roots, moss, dry grass, leaves and feathers.
The cup which contains the eggs is rather deep, though the nest is often
outwardly rather flat. Some nests are enormous structures, being added to
year after year, till they become at length solid masses of sticks and turf, from
which the grass may often be seen sprouting luxuriantly. Many of the nests
in a rookery are built touching one another, and are usually situated among
the slender branches in the extreme top of some lofty tree.

During the second week in April the feeble cries of the young Rooks
begin to be heard, and from early morning till sunset the old birds are taxed
to the utmost to provide them with food ; after a few weeks of this the young
birds appear on the branches round the nests, and fly unsteadily from branch
to branch, cawing lustily.

The Rook lays from three to six eggs ; they differ very considerably in

shape, size, and colour, even in the same clutch. Some have the ground-colour
a rich green, on others it is a pale blue, almost white, while a few have a
pale buff tint. The surface-markings are greenish-brown of varying intensity,
sometimes varied by a few almost black spots or scrawls, and many specimens
have pale violet-grey underlying markings. On some eggs the markings are
collected at one end ; on others they are so numerous as to entirely conceal
the ground-colour, and are evenly distributed over the entire surface of the
shell. They vary in length from 1-85 to i'55 inch, and in breadth from i'2o
to ro inch. Very small eggs are frequently found; these are sometimes not
much larger than Robins' eggs.

PLATE I
ROOK. Corvus frugilegus

April 2oth, 1897. — The nests in the Plate were built in an ash-tree, on the
point of Arn-Mak, at the Lake of Monteith. Just beside the ash-tree was
a tall Scotch fir, the top of which was a solid mass of old Rooks' nests
covered with a fine crop of grass. On the top of this platform I set up my
camera on its legs, each leg resting in a nest, and took my photographs
quite easily.

Through the branches of the tree may be seen the Lake Hotel and the
Church and Manse on the far side of the lake, and in the bottom left-hand
corner appears the stern of my boat drawn up on the shore.

I took the contents of the four nests in the Plate on three different
occasions and was surprised at the different character of the eggs at each
successive laying. The first time I took the eggs they were all bluish green
in ground-colour, thickly spotted and blotched with greenish brown ; the second
laying was pale bluish white in ground-colour with very few markings, which
partook mostly of the Character of streaks ; most of the eggs in the third
laying were nearly white in ground-colour, with pale grey underlying markings
and a few faint specks of dark brown.

VOL. in. — 2 A 89

ROOK. Corvusfrugilegus.

Plate I.

PLATE II
ROOK. Corvus frugilegus

April zoth, 1897. — Lake of Monteith. This Plate was taken from the top
of the same tree as Plate i. but looking in a different direction. The nests
in the large oak-tree were quite inaccessible, as none of the branches would
bear any one's weight.

Nearly all the nests I visited contained half-fledged young birds, except
in a few of the easier trees, where the nests had no doubt been robbed
two or three times already.

ROOK. Cfrms frugiUgtts.

Plait It.

MARSH TITMOUSE

Parus palustns

N most parts of the British Islands where the Marsh Tit
occurs it is a resident; though during the autumn
months it wanders about considerably, appearing in some
numbers in one locality for a few weeks, and as suddenly
disappearing again. It seems to be pretty generally
distributed throughout our Islands, and is recorded as
breeding in most districts.

From its name one would suppose that the Marsh Tit would be found
among the reeds and sedges which are the chief features of marshes. Its
habitat, however, is among the trees and bushes round sheets of water, on
the banks of rivers and burns, in well-cultivated districts and in gardens
and plantations. It is not so often found in very dry districts as other
members of its genus, and, owing to its unobtrusive habits, has perhaps
been frequently overlooked, or confused with others of the Tit family.

It is generally seen in company with Blue Tits or Coal Tits, and scarcely
differs in its habits from these birds. It is quite as active as any of them,
and twists itself into almost every conceivable attitude as it searches for
insects on the buds of the trees. Sometimes it hovers at the end of a
branch with whirring wings, or hangs upside down from a twig by one leg;
at other times it may be seen creeping up the rough bark of some tree,
reminding one rather of the action of a creeper. It is chiefly insectivorous
in its diet, but is fond of fruits of all kinds and seeds, and, like most other
Tits, is at once attracted to any bone, lump of fat, or piece of meat which
is put out in the garden in winter.

The Marsh Tit is rather a silent bird compared with the Coal Tit and
Blue Tit, but its loud plaintive notes, ' fay, fay, fay, fay,' may be frequently
heard as it flies from tree to tree in some wood calling to its mate. In
VOL. in. — 2 B 93

spring it has a loud call which may be represented by the syllables ' tee-
tay, tee-tay! and sometimes a low plaintive ' weee, weee ' is uttered. Its
song is a very poor one, consisting only of a few sibilant notes, ' sts-sts-
sts-sis, seee,' which it utters at intervals as it flits about from twig to twig.
Like most of the Tits, it is a very sociable bird, and in winter, when food
is scarce, it joins company with Blue Tits, Coal Tits, and Goldcrests, forming
quite a flock, which searches the woods for supplies of food.

The Marsh Tit is not a very early breeder, as nest-building does not
commence before the end of April, the eggs being seldom laid before the
beginning of May. The nest is usually built in a hole in some tree or
decaying fence-post, and is rarely at any great height from the ground. The
entrance-hole is usually very small, and as a rule it is very difficult to obtain
the eggs without cutting out the nest. Sometimes the nest is placed in
some hole in the ground at the base of a tree, and I have seen it in a
wall, and in the iron straining-post of a wire fence. If the nesting-chamber
be large, the bottom of it is fitted up with a collection of small bits of wood,
twigs, etc., and the nest, which is fairly neatly constructed, is built of moss
and lined with a profusion of wool, hair, and fur ; only once have I seen a
lining of fine soft grass. This nest was built in the cleft of a large oak-tree
which had been split by some winter gale ; the entrance to the nest was a
long crack only half an inch wide at the largest part.

The eggs laid vary in number from six to nine ; occasionally larger
clutches are said to be found. They are creamy white in ground-colour,
spotted and freckled with pale red. The markings are usually most abundant
on the larger end of the egg, though on some specimens they are very small,
and evenly distributed over the entire surface of the shell. The markings
vary in size in different clutches, some being large and pale in colour, while
others are small and dark ; on some specimens a few short streaks of very
dark brown are seen. They vary in length from '65 to '6 inch, and in
breadth from -50 to -45 inch. It is quite impossible to distinguish them from
those of the Blue and Coal Tits, and they must be thoroughly identified by
watching the birds to the nest. Two broods are occasionally reared in the
year, the young of the first brood collecting into a little party and leading
a wandering life till the autumn, when they join some flock of their species
for the winter.

PLATE I
MARSH TITMOUSE. Parus palustris.

May so///, 1896. — This nest was built in a hole in the end post of an old
fence in Rothiemurchus Forest, Strathspey. I was looking for the nest
of the Crested Tit when I heard the well-known cry of the Marsh Tit. I
followed the bird for some distance through the wood, and was rewarded
by seeing it enter the hole at the top of the post ; on going up I found
that the nest was eight or nine inches from the mouth of the hole, and
right in the middle of the rotten post. There were seven young birds in
it, apparently about a week old. The old birds were very shy, and did not
come near the nest while I was there, though I heard their plaintive note
now and then among the tops of the fir-trees.

I found another nest the same day in the dead branch of an alder-
tree ; it was fully twenty feet from the ground and quite inaccessible, as it
overhung a swampy piece of ground, and would not have carried any weight.
I heard the young birds chirping in the hole quite distinctly, and watched
the old birds going in and out through my glasses. They seemed to be
feeding the young birds on some kind of small white grub, possibly ant's
eggs.

MARSH TITMOUSE. Parus falustris.

GOLDEN EAGLE

Aquila chrysaetus

•LTHOUGH the Golden Eagle used to breed in a few
favoured localities in England and Wales, its only
breeding- places in our Islands at the present day are
among- the wilds of the western and northern counties

of Scotland, in the Hebrides, and in some of the wildest
parts of Ireland, though it is fast decreasing in the
latter country.

The home of the Golden Eagle is among the vast and dreary solitudes
of the Highlands, where on every side rise snow -clad mountains, their
summits shrouded in mist. Amid the wild glens, stupendous grey rocks,
and vast slopes of heather and huge boulders, where the hoarse croaks of
the Raven or the roar of the mountain torrent alone breaks the silence, the
Eagle has his home. Here are his hunting-grounds, and to those wild
fastnesses must one go to see the king of birds in all his glory. He is not
always to be seen in any particular glen, except during the breeding-season,
for he is a wanderer, and covers vast tracts of country in search of his prey.
Sometimes in the course of his wanderings he visits the Lowland counties,
and may be seen sailing majestically over the Border hills.

The appearance of this regal bird as he soars on outstretched wings
is indeed magnificent. Watch him as he slowly flaps out from some lonely
pinnacle of rock with his broad wings glistening in the sun, now soaring
with them fully expanded, gliding majestically round and round in wide
sweeping circles, the tips of the primaries separated like fingers and turned
up slightly, his tail turning from side to side like the rudder of some ship.
Slowly he rises, with hardly any perceptible motion of his wings, till he floats
high in the heavens, a mere speck against the blue.

The food of the Golden Eagle is somewhat varied : its principal food
VOL. in. — 2 c 97

consists of the blue hares and ptarmigan which live among the mountains, but
when these are scarce he is quite ready to carry off a lamb or two ; among
the deer forests he will sometimes carry off a weakly calf, but this is not a
very frequent occurrence, grouse, ptarmigan, blackgame, and rabbits forming
his usual fare. If hard pressed for food the Golden Eagle will not hesitate
to eat carrion, and I have seen a bird so gorged with feasting on a dead
sheep that it had hardly strength to rise from the ground. After a feast
of this kind the Eagle usually retires to some lonely crag, — his favourite
perch for years ; there he will sit for hours basking in the sun as he digests
his meal. The bird is capable of great endurance, and will remain for a
considerable length of time without food ; a tame Eagle I once reared refused
all food for nearly twelve days, and was apparently as strong as ever. This
bird was excessively fond of bathing itself, and used to sit on its perch
in the rain stretching out its wings and shaking its plumage in evident
enjoyment.

The Golden Eagle is supposed to pair for life, and breeds in the same
district year after year. The same nest is not used every season, especially
if the birds are disturbed at their nesting-place ; they usually have two or
three favourite situations which they use in succession. They begin to
prepare their eyrie very early in the spring, repairing the damage done to
the nest by the storms of winter, and adding a new lining to it. An
inland situation is generally chosen, always in a commanding spot, with an
uninterrupted view of the surrounding country. The nest is usually built
on a rugged cliff, partly precipitous and partly broken up by grassy ledges,
on one of which it is sure to be placed, sheltered generally by overhanging
rocks. As a rule the nest is built of sticks and heather, and lined with grass,
moss, tufts of ferns, and large pieces of green herbage. In some cases the
nest is large and bulky, while in others it is merely a hollow in the grassy
ledge lined with grass and tufts of freshly plucked plants of various kinds.
The eggs of the Golden Eagle vary in number from one to three, though
two is the usual clutch. They are laid early in April, often while the snow
is still lying thickly on the hill-tops, and are deposited at intervals of a few
days, the female commencing to sit as soon as the first is laid. The eggs
are dull white in ground-colour, with rich reddish-brown surface-spots and
blotches, and underlying markings of lilac grey. Some specimens are finely
dusted all over with pale reddish brown, others are richly and heavily marked
with deep brown blotches and streaks, while others are pure and spotless
white. One egg in the clutch is usually much more heavily marked than

its fellow, and in cases where three eggs are found one of them is almost
certain to be addled. They vary from 3' 15 to 272 inches in length, and from
2'5 to 2'2 inches in breadth.

The eggs are hatched by the end of April or the first week in May, the
young being covered with snowy white down. If the eyrie be visited after
the young have been hatched for any time, the whole nest will be found
littered with fur, feathers, and bones, and generally one or two neatly plucked
carcasses of grouse, white hares, or ptarmigan, for the young to feed on. The
female sits very closely, and should she be shot or trapped, the male will
undertake the rearing of the young himself.

In a few instances the nest of the Golden Eagle is built in a tree, but
this is usually the case where rocks are scarce. I have noticed, in connection
with the eyries of this bird, that in very few instances is the nest inaccessible ;
it is generally quite easily reached without the aid of a rope — a marked
contrast to the eyries of the Sea Eagle and Peregrine, which are usually in
the most precipitous part of some stupendous cliff.

PLATE I
GOLDEN EAGLE. Aquila chrysaetus

May 2o//z, 1896. — This Plate was taken from an Eagle's eyrie at Lochbuie,
Isle of Mull. The nest was easily accessible, being placed beside a small
rowan-bush on a grassy ledge on a precipitous face of rock some forty feet
high. It was a bulky structure of heather torn up by the roots and bits of
turf, and was lined with a quantity of freshly plucked briar leaves and twigs
of rowan. The nest contained a young bird covered with white down and
an addled egg ; in and around it were remains of grouse and white hare, and
on the edge beside the young bird lay two grouse, plucked quite clean,
pieces of two white hares, half a leveret, and a stoat! — the latter with all
the fur stripped off it except its tail, with the unmistakable black tip.

The old bird left the nest when we were within twenty yards of her and
flew right away; she did not come back all the time we were at the nest,
though we saw her soaring round and round, in the distance, a mere speck
in the sky. The young bird was very timid, and did not show fight at all ;
even when I took it in my hand it only uttered a faint squealing noise, and
crouched with its beak open while I photographed it.

VOL. III. — 2 D 10 1

GOLDEN EAGLE. Aqmla chrysaclus.
% NATURAL SIZE.

Plate T.

PLATE II
GOLDEN EAGLE. Aquila chrysaetus

June i6th, 1896. — Eagle's nest at Lochbuie, Mull. I returned to the eyrie
after four weeks' absence, and found the Eaglet had grown considerably. The
nest was filled with rowan leaves and a large fresh branch of beech leaves,
and the larder consisted of one large blue hare, remains of two leverets, two
grouse beautifully plucked and cleaned, and one young thrush. The Eaglet
was quite pugnacious, and snapped his bill and pecked at me.

I carried the Eaglet home with me after photographing it. It weighed
7>£ Ibs. I had great difficulty in rearing it until it was fully fledged, for as
long as it was in the downy stage it refused all food, and I had to cram a
certain amount down its throat daily. Once it got its feathers it became quite
reasonable, and would eat its food readily. I kept it for nearly a year, and it
grew very tame and was a most amusing pet, though a trifle unmanageable
at times, especially when it took to striking at one with its sharp talons.
At the time of writing I believe it is comfortably housed at Blairgowrie,
as I had to give it away on my return to town.

103

GOLDEN EAGLE. Ayuila ckrysaitns.

Plate II.

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER

Muscicapa gnsola

NE of the last to arrive of our summer migrants is the
Spotted Flycatcher. It seldom makes its appearance in
the British Islands before the first or second week in
May, when the trees are in leaf and there is plenty of
insect food for it. From May to September it is a common
enough bird throughout Great Britain, though in the
north of Scotland it is very local in its distribution, and

only known as a straggler to the Orkneys and Shetlands. In Ireland it is
also very locally distributed, though not an uncommon bird in some districts.
The Spotted Flycatcher haunts the edges of woods, plantations, and parks
studded with trees, and is to be found in most well-cultivated districts ; it is
especially fond of gardens, orchards, and pleasure-grounds, and may often be
seen perched on the long drooping branches overhanging some sheet of
ornamental water, every now and then sallying forth to catch the passing
insects. Like the Tree Pipit, the Spotted Flycatcher very often has a favourite
perch, on which it may be seen throughout the summer, and as a rule its
mate is not far off. Some iron fence, gate-post, haystack, or bare branch of a
tree is usually chosen, where the bird sits motionless, watching the insects
hovering round, every now and then darting forth into the swarm of gnats and
fluttering in the air, while it catches them with loud snaps of its bill, anon
returning to sit motionless again on its perch. In the dusk of the evening
the Spotted Flycatcher may often be seen pursuing the small moths and beetles
which hum lazily along. The bird rarely flies for any distance, though every
now and then it chases some large butterfly, when its peculiarly hesitating
flight is seen to perfection. Its food is chiefly composed of flies and gnats,
varied with an occasional beetle or spider ; moths and butterflies are also
eaten. It is said that the Spotted Flycatcher will also eat berries during the
autumn, but I have never been fortunate enough to verify this, though I have
dissected many of them.

The song of the Spotted Flycatcher is but rarely heard, as it is uttered
VOL. in. — 2 E 105

in so low a tone as to be almost inaudible even a few yards away. Sometimes
the bird sings while fluttering in the air after insects, sometimes while sitting
on its perch ; it rather reminds one of the song of the Whinchat, and is
merely a few low rambling notes. The call-note is a monotonous ' zt-chick,'
uttered rapidly two or three times as the bird sits on its perch, every now and
then jerking its tail gracefully backwards and forwards.

The Spotted Flycatcher does not remain very long in our Islands, and
usually departs for its winter-quarters before the middle of September. Although
it is able to fly rapidly, it seems very rarely to make use of its powers, as
its usual mode of progression is by short undulating flights from tree to
tree ; and once it has taken up its quarters for the summer it rarely strays
far from its favourite perch, and may nearly always be seen during the season
at some particular spot.

The breed ing- haunts of the Spotted Flycatcher are woods, plantations,
orchards, gardens, and shrubberies, where there is a good supply of insect
food. Nest-building is seldom begun before the latter half of May, often not
till June. The site chosen for the nest is very varied, sometimes it is among
the creepers on the walls of a house, sometimes in crevices in the rough bark
of large trees, in a fork in some fruit tree, even in a hole in a broken-down
wall. In fact any small cavity suits the bird well enough, provided that the
nest is well supported all round, as it is a somewhat loosely built structure,
composed of dry grass, moss, cobwebs, lichens, and sometimes a few feathers,
lined with a profusion of hair, rootlets, and sometimes a feather or two. Some-
times a nest is built of root fibres and sticks, and copiously lined with wool.
The same situation is often tenanted year after year, presumably by the same
pair of birds ; but if subjected to repeated disturbance they will sometimes
quit the spot for a season or two, returning again to it afterwards.

The eggs laid vary in number from four to six ; they are bluish white in
ground-colour, ranging to greenish blue, spotted, blotched, and clouded with
reddish brown of various shades. Some eggs have the markings in a zone
round the larger end, others are so profusely spotted that the ground-colour
is almost hidden, while some have a few large blotches of colour on the
large end of the egg, the rest of the surface being sparsely speckled with
small spots of colour. One very beautiful variety is clouded with a faint
pinkish bloom, which, however, soon fades after they are blown. They vary
in length from 79 to 7 inch, and from '61 to '53 inch in breadth. One
brood only is reared in the year as a rule, though occasionally the birds
succeed in hatching out a second.

1 06

PLATE I
SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. Muscicapa grisola

June ist, 1893. — The nest depicted in the Plate was built in a small
hollow in the bole of a large tree overhanging the River Teith, Perthshire.
The bird had evidently had some difficulty with a large mass of wool which
was attached to one side of the nest, as it stuck out from the back of it
in an untidy lump.

All along the banks of the river I saw great numbers of Spotted Flycatchers
and found several nests ; but they were all quite impossible to photograph, as
they were usually on thin branches overhanging the water, and some height
from the ground.

107

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. Muscicafa grisola.
1/2 NATURAL SIZE.

TEAL

Querquedula crecca

HE Teal is a somewhat locally distributed resident through-
out the British Islands. In winter its numbers are largely
augmented by migrants from further north. Large numbers
frequent the coast at this season, but many retire inland
to the lakes, rivers, and swamps, moving southward in
very severe weather. It breeds in most suitable districts
throughout Great Britain and Ireland, but is more common
in the northern districts.

The habits of the Teal differ very little from those of its congeners : its
food is the same — a mixture of animal and vegetable substances, — and it
loves to haunt the same reedy lochs, rivers, and swamps, though perhaps it
is hardly so partial to the mudbanks on the sea-shore as its relatives are.
It is not nearly so shy a bird as the Mallard or Shoveler, and often swims
about among the reeds, allowing itself to be watched from quite a short
distance without any sign of fear. On the wing it is very swift, and rises
easily from the surface of the water without much splashing. It is the
smallest European duck, and quite the tamest. Few birds can show such a
magnificent diversity of colouring as the Teal Drake in full nuptial plumage.

The alarm-note of the Teal is a short sharp ' krake,' somewhat harsher
than the call-note, which is a loud ' krik-krikj and during the pairing-season
the drake may often be heard to utter a harsh grating note. During migration
the flocks of Teal are sometimes very large ; but even in these huge assemblages
very little noise is heard, except the whistling of countless wings and an
occasional quack. It is quite as gregarious as the Wigeon and Mallard, and,
except during the breeding-season, is usually met with in flocks of varying
size.

The favourite breeding-haunts of the Teal are among the scattered trees
VOL. in. — 2 F 109

and long heather in some forest swamp not far from the water, or among
the rushes or long grass near some reedy loch. As a rule a fairly dry site
is chosen for the nest, which is usually very artfully concealed amongst
heather or under some small willow bush or tuft of coarse grass. It is a
somewhat deep hollow lined with a little dry grass, and a profusion of down,
which is added as the full complement of eggs is reached.

From eight to twelve eggs are laid, nine or ten being the general clutch.
They are buffish white in colour, sometimes tinged with a greenish shade, and
vary in length from 175 to 1-55 inch, and in breadth from 1*40 to 1-28
inch. The eggs of the Teal are slightly smaller than those of the Garganey,
but the down is the most certain means of identification, that of the Teal
being dark brown without any white tips, while that of the Garganey is a
somewhat greyer brown with peculiarly long white tips, even more conspicuous
than those on the down of the Shoveler and Wigeon.

The period of incubation lasts about twenty-two days ; and after the
young are hatched the drake assists his mate in the care of them until they
are nearly fully fledged, when he retires to some lonely place until he has
assumed his brown plumage. Young in down have the upper parts dark
brown, with whitish spots on the sides of the rump, wings, and scapulars.
The under-parts are pale brown, palest on the belly and shading into buff
on the throat. There is a buff stripe over the eye, and a dark brown spot
on the end of the ear-coverts is prolonged into a dark streak which joins
a brown stripe passing through the eye on the side of the neck.

There are very few prettier sights than a brood of young Teal swimming
about on some dark, peaty, forest pool, closely attended by their watchful
parents. The little birds are very tame, and, if the observer sits quite still,
the family party will swim in and out among the reeds at quite a short
distance.

PLATE I
TEAL. Querquedula crecca

May 6tk, 1893. — Walking along the shore of a small loch in South Perthshire
I put up a Teal, almost stepping on her, so closely did she sit. Having
left the nest in such a hurry she had not covered the eggs, and it was such
a pretty nest that I took a photo of it, though the wind was rather strong,
and blew the heather about a good deal.

The keeper showed me two other nests not far off; but the birds were
away feeding, and had covered up the eggs with the down, to save them from
the crows, leaving nothing visible but a little patch of down among the long
heather which grew close down to the loch.

TEAL. Querquedula crecca.
3/7 NATURAL SIZE.

PHEASANT

asianus co

ICUS

T is hardly correct to call the Pheasant an indigenous bird
in the British Islands. The date of its introduction to
this country is unknown, though it is supposed to have
been introduced by the Romans. It is distributed where-
ever there is sufficient cover to protect it, and may be
found in a semi-domesticated state in most districts
throughout the British Islands.

The favourite haunts of the Pheasant are among the woods and plantations
adjoining well-cultivated lands, where it can leave the shelter of the under-
growth in the early morning and evening to feed, ready to run back into
the cover on the slightest alarm. It is essentially a ground bird, and will
trust to its powers of running for safety, only taking to its wings as a last
resource, though if repeatedly disturbed it will seek refuge in some tree. At
cover shoots, where the birds have been frequently shot at, I have often
seen Pheasants fly quietly up into some thick fir-tree, from which no amount
of shouting or beating the tree with sticks would dislodge them.

The food of the Pheasant is composed of insects, worms, grain, small
seeds, and berries, especially elderberries and blackberries. In the autumn
they devour immense quantities of acorns and beech-mast. During the
winter they subsist chiefly on the artificial food spread for them by the
gamekeepers, the birds from the outlying plantations collecting where the
food is put down. At this season of the year they often become almost
as tame as barn-door fowls, picking up the Indian corn and damaged raisins
at the keeper's feet.

In the British Islands the Pheasant is polygamous, probably on account
of the inequality in numbers of the sexes, far more cocks being killed in the
shooting-season than hens. Most of the Pheasants found in our Islands at
VOL. in. — 2 G 113

the present day are crosses between the Common Pheasant and Ring-necked
species. Pairing takes place every spring in April and May, and many are
the fierce fights which take place over the females, the strongest males often
having as many as eight or nine in their harem. As soon as the eggs
are laid the male deserts them altogether, and leaves them to rear their
families alone, though instances have been recorded of the male being put
up from the nest. The flight of the Pheasant is very swift, and is performed
by rapid whirring beats of its rounded wings. Few birds make such a noise
in rising from the ground as an old cock Pheasant, the loud rattling whir of
his wings sounding somewhat startling as he rises unexpectedly in some quiet
corner of the wood.

The hen Pheasant makes her own nest, which is a very simple structure,
being merely a slight hollow in the ground lined with a little dry grass and
a few leaves. It is usually placed under some tangle of brambles or briar,
among dead ferns or tussocks of grass. From nine to fourteen eggs are
laid, though as many as twenty-six are sometimes found ; probably these large
clutches are the produce of more than one bird. The eggs are olive-brown
in colour, sometimes bluish green, with a smooth and polished shell full of
very minute pits. They vary in length from 1*92 to 175 inch, and in breadth
from 1*45 to 133 inch. Very small eggs are occasionally met with, generally
known by the keepers as ' toys.'

The old bird is very wary when leaving and approaching her nest, always
flying from it and returning in the same way, so that no scent is left for
an enemy to track. When she leaves the nest to feed she carefully covers the
eggs with leaves and grass from the sides. Only one brood is reared in
the season, the hen taking charge of them in much the same manner as the
domestic fowl ; but the Pheasant is rather a careless mother, and often loses
many of her chicks in ditches or long grass, seeming to be quite content if
two or three chicks are following her. The young birds advance towards
maturity very slowly, and seldom are able to fly before the end of July — even
later in some seasons.

114

PLATE I
PHEASANT. Pkasianus colchicus.

May io///, 1893. — The Pheasant's nest in this Plate is a remarkably open
one ; when I came across it the bird was sitting on the eggs with her tail
up against the trunk of the tree. I succeeded in getting everything ready,
but she flew off just as I was putting in my slide.

One of the eggs was very small, and had no yolk to it ; it was covered
with tiny excrescences of chalk, and had a very thick shell.

PHEASANT, ritasiimtis colchicus.
»/7 NATURAL SIZE.

TREE CREEPER

Certhia famihans

HIS unassuming little bird is a resident in our Islands, and
is pretty generally distributed throughout most wooded
districts. It is occasionally recorded from the Orkneys
and Shetlands, but apparently does not wander to the
Outer Hebrides.

From its retiring habits and the quiet colour of its
plumage, the Tree Creeper is a bird which is very often

overlooked. Its home is in the woods, and it is perhaps most abundantly
distributed in old forests where there are large trees, many of them very old
and much decayed, for on these old trees is found the greatest abundance of
insect food. It is often seen on the trees in the garden or on the large
beeches which are dotted about in some park ; but these are only occasionally
visited in quest of food, for the Creeper's haunts are in the depths of the
woods.

The Tree Creeper has the stiff, pointed tail-feathers of a Woodpecker,
which are of the greatest service in ascending the perpendicular trunks of
trees. The tail is pressed against the bark, and is used as a sort of prop.
How quickly the little bird can ascend the rough moss-covered bark of the
trees, stopping every now and then to capture some insect or to pick out
some tiny grub from the crevices in the bark ! Notice, too, how quickly it
disappears round the other side of the trunk on your slightest movement,
gradually working its way up to the top of the tree, when it flies off to the
bottom of the next one, to resume its quest for food. Now and then the
Creeper may be seen on the ground searching among the dead leaves at the
foot of some tree, or hopping about on some pile of pea-sticks, and may
sometimes be seen bathing in the little pools of water lying in some cart-
track through the woods. During the winter almost every flock of Tits which
VOL, in. — 2 H 117

one meets with in the woods contains at least one pair of Creepers, who
diligently search the bark of the tree while the Tits are working at the buds
and twigs. The call-note of the Creeper is a feeble but penetrating ' cheee-
cheee' ', its song is but rarely heard, usually in the very early spring, remind-
ing one rather of the vocal performances of the Golden-Crested Wren, but
not so loud.

The food of the Creeper is almost entirely composed of the insects and
gnats which lurk in the crevices of the rough bark of forest trees. The
bird seems to have a decided liking for small spiders, as I have seen a
Creeper pull these insects from their webs on the windows of a disused
stable, and often observed the bird there searching the corners of the panes
as if it expected to find the webs tenanted by other spiders.

About the middle of April the Creeper begins to lay. The nesting-
site is somewhat varied. Sometimes the nest is placed behind some large
piece of bark which has peeled away from the decaying trunk of a dead
tree, sometimes in the split and torn stump of a fir-tree which has been
smashed by the winter's gales, or in a cavity between two trunks of a
beech. More rarely it is found in some pile of branches leaning against the
trunk of a tree, in a crevice in a wood-stack, or in some corner in an out-
house. The nest is beautifully built. The hollow in which it is placed is
often rather larger than is necessary, and is carefully filled up with twigs of
beech and birch, or tiny pieces of dead wood. The nest proper is beautifully
built of moss, dry grass roots, and a few feathers, edged with the finest
twigs, and very often lined with fine strips of the inside bark of trees. Two
broods are frequently reared in the year, but rarely does the second laying
consist of more than four or five eggs. From six to nine eggs are usually
laid ; the ground-colour is sometimes pure white, sometimes creamy white,
marked with brownish red spots and a few greyish underlying markings.
They vary considerably in the number and placing of the markings, though
all the eggs in one clutch are usually of one type. In some clutches the
spots are confined to a zone round the large end of the egg ; in others the
spots in this zone are confluent, forming a ring of colour ; while in others again
they are few in number, and scattered pretty evenly over the entire surface. In
these last specimens the spots are usually much darker and of a deep reddish
brown. The eggs vary in length from '68 to '58 inch, and in breadth from
•48 to -44 inch.

118

PLATE I
TREE CREEPER. Cert hi a familiar is

May %th, 1897. — Monteith. — The large beech depicted in this Plate has been
the nesting-site of a pair of Creepers as long as I can remember. The first
Creeper's egg which ever graced my collection was taken from this very
same situation in May 1881, and there has been a nest in this tree every
year since.

The cavity in which the nest is placed is just below a branch growing
out of the bole of the tree not more than four feet from the ground ; the nest
is in rather the same sort of position in which one would expect to find a
Robin's nest, as it is quite open, and only two or three inches from the lip of
the cavity. It is nearly always beautifully edged with very fine birch twigs,
which must be carried some distance, as there are no birches anywhere very
near ; it is lined with fine strips of inside bark and a good many feathers.
As often as I have examined the eggs in this nest I have found them of the
same type, very richly spotted with rich dark reddish brown, the markings
being collected into a very conspicuous zone round the larger end of the egg ;
one egg in the clutch is usually spotted at the small end. This points out
that the same pair of birds has occupied this site year after year.

In 1889, 1892, 1893, 1895, and 1896 a second brood was reared, as I
found fresh eggs in the last week of June ; in each year the second nests were
all fives, except in 1893, when only four were laid.

119

TREE CREEPER. Certhiafamiliaris.

BLACKBIR D

Tu rdus m e rula

ROM the richness of its song and its love for the gardens,
orchards, and shrubberies around our dwellings, the
Blackbird is the best- known of our British Thrushes.
It is abundantly distributed throughout Great Britain where-
ever trees abound. It is also a resident in many of the
outlying islands, and breeds on the Orkneys, Shetlands,
and Outer Hebrides, though it is only an irregular visitor to some of the
more desolate islands. The Blackbird breeds on the Bass Rock and on
Ailsa Craig, both localities being apparently quite unsuited to the habits
of the bird.

The Blackbird is a shy, retiring bird, and its haunts are among the woods,
plantations, and thickets, where there is plenty of cover to afford it seclusion.
Its favourite haunts are among the shrubberies and thickets of evergreens
bordering some lawn or stretch of well-mown grass, where it can obtain its
food in the open and retire to the shelter of the laurels and rhododendrons
on the slightest alarm. Along the hedgerows between the fields the Black-
bird may be seen in large numbers, especially in summer, when the vegetation
is thick and close ; and the wooded banks of streams and swampy corners in the
woods have a great attraction for the bird, on account of the food which is to
be obtained in these places. The Blackbird is rather a difficult bird to flush :
it will hop along the ground and creep in and out of the brushwood rather
than take to its wings ; and if at last it be compelled to seek safety in flight, it
will drop down again into the nearest patch of cover. It rarely flies at any
height, and seems to prefer skulking along some hedge or line of trees rather
than expose itself to view in the open air. The Blackbird does not stray far
from its haunts, and usually frequents some particular locality throughout
the whole season, only making short excursions to its feeding -grounds,
which it visits morning and evening with great regularity.
VOL. in. — 2 i 121

The early morning is the best time to watch the Blackbird seeking its food,
which consists of the small slugs and earthworms which abound on the lawns and
pasture-lands. One by one the birds fly down from the evergreens and alight
on the grass, with a graceful motion of the tail, pausing for a moment, with the
appearance of listening intently before they begin to feed. Along the hedge-
rows, among the undergrowth, are snails which live in bright-coloured shells ;
these the Blackbird dashes to pieces against some stone, and greedily devours
the juicy morsels thus obtained. In autumn the turnip-fields are alive with
these birds seeking the snails and worms which abound in the loose soil
under the leaves, and at this season they also devour large quantities of
berries, chiefly those of the mountain ash and hawthorn. In the fruit season the
Blackbird takes its toll of the cherries, currants, and strawberries in the garden,
often paying the penalty of death in the gardener's nets.

The Blackbird commences to sing late in February, and its rich mellow
notes may be heard from that time till the end of May, when it gradually
leaves off singing and remains silent during July, when the autumn moult is
in progress, rarely commencing again before the next spring. In compass and
richness of tone the song of the Blackbird is unsurpassed, though it possesses
little variety. The early morning, and in the evening as the sun is sinking,
are the times when the Blackbird sings its sweetest. Perched on some lofty
tree, it pours forth a continuous stream of rich mellow notes, which have an
indescribably soothing tone about them.

During the pairing season the Blackbirds are extremely pugnacious, and
the males may often be seen chasing each other through the branches and
fighting with perfect fury.

Early in April the Blackbird builds its nest. Its breeding-haunts are
among the woods, plantations, and shrubberies. Very varied situations are
chosen for the nest, though preference is given to evergreens. Sometimes the
nest is placed far up the ivy-covered trunk of some tall tree, sometimes in
the fork of an apple-tree, or in a low, thick laurel bush. It is also pretty
often built on the ground in steep ravines among ferns and coarse grass. Curious
sites are often chosen : one nest was built on the steps of a ladder leaning
up in a corner of an old potting-shed ; and another, not far off, was placed in
a hole in a wall in just such a site as a Robin would build. I came across
a Blackbird's nest on the ground among very long heather in the middle of
an open space in a large wood.

The nest takes some time to complete, and passes through three stages.
The foundation is somewhat loosely built of coarse grass, leaves, and moss,

122

amongst which a few twigs are usually woven ; this is then lined with
mud or clay, and is often hard to distinguish from the unfinished nest of
the Song Thrush ; the final stage consists in the addition of a thick lining
of fine dry grass beautifully finished. It is usually rather a bulky structure,
and somewhat flat.

From four to six eggs are laid, though it is said that even larger clutches
are occasionally found. They vary considerably in shape, size, and colour ; some
specimens are nearly round, others are oblong, while still others are pear-shaped.
The ground-colour is usually a bright bluish green, spotted, streaked, or blotched
with rich reddish brown and a few purplish marks. Some specimens have most
of the markings arranged in a zone round the larger end of the egg, or collected
into a blotch of colour on the top, others are richly blotched with large pale
spots, while others again are so thickly spotted as to hide the green of the
ground-colour entirely. Clutches are occasionally met with which are spotless,
and of a pale bluish green. The eggs vary from I '35 to I 'o inch in length,
and from '91 to 78 inch in breadth. Two broods are reared in the year.

12-3

cr:

PLATE I
BLACKBIRD. Turdus merula

May yd, 1894. — This nest was built in a blown -down Scotch fir on the
outskirts of a small plantation in Tweedsmuir, Peeblesshire. I spent some
hours trying to get a photograph of the bird on the nest, but had to give it
up at last as a bad job. I could stand within four yards of her without the
slightest difficulty, but the moment I produced my camera she flew off. I
tried leaving it up and going away; but as long as it was there, nothing
would induce her to return to the nest.

VOL. in. — 2 K 125

BLACKBIRD. Tin-tins mtnUa,

'h NATURAL SIZE.

Plate I.

PLATE II
BLACKBI RD. Turdus merula

May 7//z, 1897. — I stumbled across this nest as I was walking up a small
glen in South Perthshire : the bird flew away hurriedly and disclosed her
nest. It was built on the ground in a patch of dog's-mercury on a very
steep bank, and was placed on a piece of a dead branch embedded in the
moss and grass.

127

BLACKBIRD. Tun/i/s incrida.
i | NATURAL SIZE.

//.

ROCK PIPIT

Anthus obscurus

Rock Pipit is a resident on all the coasts of the
British Islands, with the exception of the southern
portion of the low-lying eastern coasts of England,
where it is only a straggler during migration. It breeds
in all the rocky islands round our coasts, including the
Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys and Shetlands, and St.
Kilda.

The haunts of the Rock Pipit are on the rocky parts of the coasts, and
the bird frequents the cliffs and rocks to the high-tide mark : it is quite as
partial to rocky islands as to the mainland, and is a resident throughout the
year on nearly all the smaller rocky islets, such as the Bass Rock, the Isle
of May, Ailsa Craig, and the Fames. It is a very restless little bird, and
when its haunts are invaded it flits from rock to rock before the intruder,
uttering its shrill call-note, a sharp 'sssf or '/55/,' which it keeps up in-
cessantly if its nest is in danger. It is not a shy bird, and can be approached
within quite a short distance. When flushed from the beach it flutters
into the air, hovering above the intruder's head in an inquiring fashion, and
continually uttering its call-note, flying away at last to some rock with a
curious jerking flight. It is not a gregarious bird during the breeding
season, but may be seen in small flocks during the winter.

The Rock Pipit commences to sing before the pairing season, which
takes place about the middle of March ; like all the Pipits, it usually sings
when on the wing. During the pairing season it sings almost incessantly,
rising into the air and slowly gliding down again to its perch with wings
and tail expanded. Although its notes are musical, it cannot compare with
the Tree Pipit either in the richness or variety of its song. Sometimes the
VOL. in. — 2 L 129

bird rises into the air, uttering its sharp call-note repeatedly, and glides
down again to its perch in full song.

The food of the Rock Pipit is principally composed of small shells,
insects and their larvae, varied with small seeds. A great deal of its
food is obtained on the seaweed which has been cast up by the waves
beyond high-tide mark. The heat of the sun soon causes the weed to
putrefy, and forms a nursery for millions of small black flies ; on these the
Rock Pipit feeds, and the bird may often be seen to catch them in the air,
hovering like a fly-catcher. In the autumn the Rock Pipit wanders from
its accustomed haunts, and frequents the low- lying marshes on the sea-
coast, showing a decided preference for the grassy portions of mud-flats and
the low banks of shingle on the edge of the marshes.

The breeding season of the Rock Pipit commences about the middle of
April, eggs rarely being found before the end of the month or the beginning
of May. The nest is seldom very far from the sea ; it is nearly always very
well concealed in some sheltered situation, — under a stone, under a heap of
seaweed, or in a crevice in the rocks, often in the middle of a tuft of sea-
campion. In the Shetlands I have frequently seen it in some absolutely
inaccessible crack in the face of the cliffs hundreds of feet above the sea, and
I found two or three nests in piles of stones in such situations as a Wheatear
would have chosen. The nest is sometimes entirely built of fine dry grass ;
sometimes the outside is composed of the stems of various plants, such as
sea-campion or sea-pinks intermixed with a little seaweed, and lined with fine
grass, and moss is often used in the foundation ; other nests are lined with
hair, and Gulls' feathers are sometimes woven into the sides.

Four or five eggs are laid, which do not vary in type very much. The
ground-colour is nearly white, but it is so much obscured by the profusion
of the markings that it is seldom visible. The surface-marks are small, and
vary from reddish brown to brownish grey ; the underlying spots are always
pale grey. On most specimens the markings are very small and confluent,
often forming a zone round the larger end of the egg. Some specimens are
more boldly blotched than others, and very pale examples are not uncommon.
Some clutches are marked with very dark hair-like scrawlings on the large
end of the egg. They vary in length from -91 to 79 inch, and in breadth
from '66 to "59 inch. Two broods are usually reared in the season.

130

PLATE I
ROCK PIPIT. Anthus obscurus

June 28^/1, 1893. — As I was walking among the old buildings on the Bass
Rock, a Rock Pipit flew out from a tuft of bladder campion growing out of
a crack in the rock, and when I went up to investigate, I found the nest with
four fully fledged young birds in it.

The nest was beautifully concealed, and I would never have suspected
its presence there, had not the old bird flown out. All the time I was taking
the photograph the old birds fluttered around in a dreadful state of anxiety,
uttering their call-note incessantly and hovering in the air above my head.

ROCK PIPIT. Ant/ius obscurus.
1/3 NATURAL SIZE.

MAGPIE

Pica rustica

EW birds are so well known as the graceful and pert Magpie.
The beauty of its plumage and its cheery chattering cry
make it one of the most popular of our British birds. It
is a fairly common bird throughout the British Islands,
though somewhat local in its distribution. It does not
stray to the outlying islands.
Although the Magpie is commonest in the well-wooded districts, it is not,
properly speaking, a woodland bird. Open parks studded with groups of
trees are its favourite haunts, and it may even be seen on the edge of the
moors in the vicinity of some fir plantation, to which it can retreat if alarmed.
It is a very wary bird, and seldom can be approached within gunshot, though
in places, where it is left unmolested, it will haunt the bushes round cottages,
and build its nest in an open tree or tall bush in some garden. In the pasture-
lands the Magpie may often be seen walking about among the feeding cattle,
sometimes even perching on their backs. It is a gregarious bird in many of
its habits, and numbers of them gather together in the autumn and winter to
some fir plantation, where they roost.

The note of the Magpie is a harsh chatter, uttered as the bird hops from
twig to twig in some tall tree. During the breeding season it utters a number
of notes which are seldom heard at any other season ; among these may be
mentioned a shrill piping whistle.

The destruction which the Magpie works among the eggs and young
chicks in the game-covers has earned for it much of the persecution to which
it is subjected. But it does a great deal of good at certain seasons, by
devouring large quantities of the noxious insects and grubs which frequent
the pasture-lands. Snails and worms are also eaten greedily, and it is said
to pick the vermin from the backs of sheep and cattle. In autumn the Magpie
eats the acorns and beech-mast, and does not object to an occasional meal
of carrion if hard pressed for food.

Though the Magpie is found almost everywhere in the British Islands,
it is only in wooded districts that their nests may be found in any numbers.
VOL. in. — 2 M 133

Some localities are specially favoured in this respect, and numbers of nests
may be seen in a short walk, while in other districts there may be only one
solitary pair. Sometimes the bird chooses a solitary tree standing in a hedge-
row in which to build its bulky nest, but it is most commonly placed in
some small plantation. Almost every kind of tree is used as a nesting-site,
and the bird often builds in some thick tangled hawthorn only a few feet
from the ground, but so well protected by the sharp thorns that it is well-
nigh impregnable. The Magpie often returns year after year to the same
nesting-site, patching up the old nest and re-lining it with rootlets ; such nests
are usually enormous structures, and the basket-like dome which covers them
is enlarged till it covers nearly the whole top of the tree.

The Magpie is a fairly early breeder, and commences the work of nest-
building during the end of March or the beginning of April. The nest is
usually placed among the thin branches at the top of the tree, and is built of
sticks cemented together with mud and clay and lined with a fine soft bed of
rootlets ; in a few instances dry grass is used as a lining. The principal
peculiarity of the Magpie's nest is the large dome of thorny sticks which
entirely covers the nest, only a small hole being left, just above the lip of the
cup which contains the eggs, for the old bird to get in and out by. The nest
cavity is very deep for its breadth, and the lining is so smoothly finished that
the inside is as round as a basin. When the nest is approached, the Magpie
will slip quietly away if the eggs be fresh ; but if she is sitting, it often requires
much shouting and repeated blows on the trunk of the tree to dislodge her.
When the young are hatched both birds fly round and round the tree at
some height in the air on the approach of an intruder, uttering their chattering
cry.

From six to eight eggs are laid, larger clutches being occasionally found ;
they are very small for the size of the bird, and vary considerably in this
respect even in the same clutch. The ground-colour varies from bluish green
to greenish buff, sometimes very nearly white. The surface-markings are
small and of a greenish brown colour, occasionally deep brown ; underlying
spots are greyish purple. On some specimens the markings are evenly dis-
tributed over the entire surface ; on others many of them are confluent, forming
a patch of colour on the end of the egg; while on a third variety they are
collected in a distinct zone round the large end of the egg. They vary in
length from 1*45 to i'2O inch, and in breadth from i-o to '87 inch.

Only one brood is reared in the year, but if the first clutch be destroyed
a second nest is made.

134

PLATE I
MAGPIE. Pica rustica

April 24/7^, 1894. — The nest from which this Plate was taken was built in
a small fir plantation in Tweedsmuir; the trees in the wood were very small,
the tallest being only about eighteen feet. The nest was very open, and the
eggs easily visible from the next tree, where I managed to set up my camera.
This was the only pair of Magpies in the district, and I only heard of it
by chance from one of the keepers, who was on his way to the plantation to
shoot the old birds. He failed, however, to do so that day, so I got my
photograph before the nest was destroyed.

135

MAGPIE. Pica rustita.
1/4 NATURAL SIZE.

RINGDOVE

Columba palumbus

HE Ringdove is a common and widely distributed resident
throughout the British Islands, wherever there are woods.
In the Outer Hebrides, and the Orkneys and Shetlands, it
is known as a straggler in spring and autumn. In winter
its numbers are augmented by migrants from the Continent.
The Ringdove or Wood-pigeon is the largest and best
of its genus in the British Islands. Its haunts are among
the wooded districts, from the large low-lying forests in the south to the fir
plantations on the mountain-sides of the Highlands. It is specially fond of
parks studded with clumps of trees and small plantations, and frequents the
ivy-covered trees and large yews in shrubberies.

The food of the Ringdove is chiefly composed of vegetable substances.
During the summer they feed on green corn, clover shoots, beans, peas, and
all kinds of fruit, such as blackberries, hips and haws, and holly berries. In
the autumn they devour huge quantities of all kinds of ripe grain and the
seeds of various plants, and may often be seen under the trees searching for
acorns and beech-mast. When hard pressed in winter the tops of turnips and
winter cabbages are taken, and as these bird are voracious feeders they do a
great deal of damage in districts where they are very numerous. The Ringdove
may often be seen on the sea-shore taking small pieces of the seaweed lying
on the beach, for it is very fond of salt, and at certain seasons it eats large
quantities of tiny land shells.

The murmuring love-note of the Ringdove is one of the best-known sounds
of spring ; it seems to fill the whole wood with its soothing tones. It is a low
mournful 'coo-coo, coo, coo-coo,' repeated over and over again, and rising and
falling in a sleepy sort of rhythm, often stopping suddenly in the middle of a
note. A single penetrating 'ooo-cooo' is sometimes uttered by the male as he
sits perched on some branch not far from his sitting mate.
VOL. in. — 2 N 137

The Ringdove is an early breeder, often beginning to lay in the last few
days of March. I have two very early records of Ringdove's nests containing
eggs, one on the gth of March and one on the nth, and I have frequently
seen nests containing eggs in the last week of that month. The favourite site
for the Ringdove's nest is in some thick spruce fir-tree in a plantation, the nest
being usually placed close against the trunk of the tree. Almost every kind
of tree is used as a nesting-site, and a favourite place is among the masses of
twigs which are often seen round the lowest branches of a lime-tree. It is
sometimes built in the ivy which covers some ruined tower or church. The
same nest is often tenanted year after year, being added to and strengthened
each spring.

The nest is rudely made, being merely a flat platform of twigs, generally
those of the birch, and sometimes so loosely put together that the eggs are
distinctly visible from below ; sometimes it is built on an old Squirrel's drey
or on a deserted nest of a Sparrow-hawk or Crow.

The eggs are two in number, never more, but sometimes only one is laid.
They are oval in shape, and of a glossy white, with a very smooth polished
shell. They vary in length from 17 to i'5 inch, and in breadth from
1*40 to i -15 inch.

Both birds take their turn in incubating the eggs, and when the young
are hatched the old birds are kept busy from sunrise to sunset in supplying
the voracious appetites of the nestlings. The young birds grow very slowly,
and pick the semi-digested food from the mouths of their parents, who eject
it from their crops. As soon as the young can fly, the old birds set about
building another nest, three broods being sometimes reared in the year. It
is no uncommon thing to find nests of the Ringdove containing fresh eggs as
late as the middle of August, and I took a pair of eggs which were perfectly
fresh from a nest in a lime-tree near Callander on the 2nd of September .

138

PLATE I
RINGDOVE. Columba p alum bus

April \2.th, 1894. — Tweedsmuir. — This nest was built in a large spruce
fir-tree in a plantation on the hillside. I got my camera set up half
way out on a large branch, and had some difficulty in focussing it, as it
was so dark in the middle of the tree. Using a small diaphragm and an
instantaneous plate, I thought I would be quite safe if I gave it forty seconds ;
but I had to expose it for nearly two and a half minutes before I could get
any detail. The great difficulty was to keep perfectly still for that length of
time, as the slightest movement blurred everything.

139

RINGDOVE. Columba palumbus.
s/5 NATURAL SIZE.

SEDGE WARBLER

Acrocephalus pkragmitts

Sedge Warbler is a common summer visitor to most
suitable districts throughout the British Islands. Its
arrival in this country takes place during the last few days
of April, or the beginning of May in late seasons.

The haunts of the Sedge Warbler are among the
tangled bushes and thick vegetation which is found in the
neighbourhood of swampy ground, and not entirely among
the reeds and sedges, as its name suggests. It is especially fond of frequenting
the stunted bushes which fringe the shores of lakes, ponds, and streams. It is
rather a skulking bird, and prefers to hop from twig to twig among the tangle,
where it can elude detection. Now and then, however, it may be seen on
the topmost twig of some bush, pouring forth its song, shifting restlessly
about all the while, and finally disappearing again among the bushes.

The song of the Sedge Warbler is somewhat like that of the Whitethroat,
but has a much greater variety of notes ; some of these are full and rich in tone,
while many others are harsh and piercing. The bird sings almost incessantly,
often as it flies from bush to bush, and seems to vary its own song by
imitating the notes of other birds. In the pairing season it is especially
vociferous, and its loud cheery note may be heard at all hours during the
night. Its call-note is a harsh, grating ' churrr' rapidly repeated, and when
its nest is in danger it has a long, scolding note, ' chzzzzj reminding one rather
of the alarm-note of the Whitethroat.

Insects and their larvae form the chief part of the Sedge Warbler's food,
and the little bird may often be seen darting out from some bush to secure
a passing insect, or fluttering over the water among some cloud of gnats
dancing in the sunshine. Small worms and caterpillars are also considered
dainties.

VOL. in. — 2 o 141

Early in May the Sedge Warbler commences to build its nest, which is
always supported by the branches or growing plants, and never suspended
between the reeds like that of the Reed Warbler. On the shores of the lakes
and streams the nest is usually built in some convenient fork in the willow
bushes, or in the bushes choked with grass and covered with brambles which
grow along the confines of some swampy piece of ground. In the Norfolk
broads I have frequently found it on the ground, or supported on a heap of
dead Carex, and it is often built in the bottom of some hedge growing alongside
a deep broad ditch. If the marsh be a large one, and suitable tangles be few
and small, many nests may be found within a few yards of one another. They
are simple, unassuming little structures of dry grass stems, bits of sedge and
moss, lined with hair, and sometimes with the down of marsh plants or reed
flowers.

Five or six eggs are laid, very rarely seven. They may be divided into
two types, though they go through nearly every intermediate variety. The first
type is greenish buff with pale and rather indistinct mottlings of buffish
brown. The second is buff in general colour, with very pronounced markings
of rich brown, and sometimes deep reddish brown. The ground-colour of both
types is a pale bluish white, but it is nearly always entirely hidden by a buffish
tinge which suffuses the whole egg. Nearly all varieties are also marked with
fine scratchy lines of blackish brown ; on some specimens these lines are so
fine as to be almost invisible, while on others they are bold and distinct. The
eggs vary in length from 74 to "58 inch, and in breadth from '54 to "49 inch.

Only one brood is reared during the season, but if the first clutch be
destroyed a second nest is built, generally not very far from the original site.
The Sedge Warbler, which frequents the tangled vegetation, "may be easily
distinguished from the Reed Warbler, which lives among the reeds, as the
former bird has a spotted appearance and the latter a plain one — no doubt a
provision of Nature for protection, so that each bird may be as inconspicuous
as possible in its different haunt.

142

PLATE I
SEDGE WARBLER. Acrocephalus phragmitis

May 3ot/i, 1895. — This nest was photographed in a small patch of willow
scrub and tangled brambles near a reedy backwater on the river Teith,
Perthshire. The Sedge Warblers were very abundant all up the river, and as
there were few patches of suitable scrub for them to nest in, the nests were
fairly close together in suitable spots. In this particular patch, which
was perhaps twelve yards long and half that width, I examined no less than
nine nests, and there were probably more, as some of the places were so thick
and so overgrown with brambles that I was unable to examine them. The
birds kept up a continuous warbling all day, which became almost deafening
in the evening, as each one vied with his neighbour in singing his loudest.
Nearly all the nests were lined with the down from the catkins of a shrub,
which grew in great profusion in the marshy parts of the patch of willow scrub.

i£N*fSSn ^ T
mm^fe'-l if \

SEDGE-WARBLER. Acroctphalus phragmitis.
1/3 NATURAL SIZE.

DIPPER

Cinclus aquaticus

HE Dipper is a bird of the rapid streams. In Great
Britain it is chiefly found in the mountainous districts
of England and Wales, and throughout Scotland and
Ireland it is a common bird wherever the waters are
rapid enough, either in the wilds of the north or in the
southern counties.

The haunts of the Dipper are confined to the swift

rapidly-flowing rocky mountain streams. Here it is found throughout the
year, and is quite as active when the rocks are draped with ice as in the
burning heat of the summer sun. The roaring mountain streams never freeze,
and hence the bird is always able to obtain its food. It is not a migratory
bird in the British Isles, but the young birds are driven by their parents from
districts which become too crowded. On the barest of mountain-sides, where
the little stream leaps down the rocky glen among jagged rocks where not
a tree or shrub grows, the Dipper is just as much at home as it is where the
birches and mountain ashes grow among the clefts in the rock overhanging the
stream which wanders down some wooded glen. It is a bird of great activity,
and flies with rapid unswerving flight, now landing on some boulder round
which the waters boil and splash, now alighting on some grassy bank, or
diving into the boiling water, anon reappearing some distance down the
stream. The Dipper is an expert at diving, sometimes swimming along
under the water, aided by its wings, and searching the little stones at the
bottom of the stream for the caddis-worms on which it feeds. Unlike the
Kingfisher, the Dipper never dives into the water with a sudden plunge,
but either wades into it or drops into it from some convenient stone. Now
and then you may see it splashing about in some rapid part of the stream,
as if it were trying to reach something at the bottom and was overpowered
by the current.

VOL. in. — 2 P 145

Except during the breeding season the Dipper is a solitary bird, and
even at that time the two birds are not often seen together. Each pair
seem to haunt a certain part of the stream, beyond which they do not stray.

The song of the Dipper is rarely heard except in the spring ; at that
season, amid the rush of the waters, he sits on some boulder amid the spray
from the waterfall singing his short song. It is a low warbling strain with
a curious admixture of grating sounds, something like the letters ' zzzt,'
and is repeated at irregular intervals. The call-note is a double l zzzt-zzzt,'
uttered most frequently as the bird takes wing.

The food of the Dipper consists of the larvae of insects, which at this
stage of their development are found in the beds of streams. Among the
moss-grown pebbles at the bottom of the stream it obtains caddis-worms,
small molluscs, and water-beetles, and from the marshy banks of the stream
worms, gnats, and minute insects of every kind are procured. The bird has
been accused of destroying large quantities of the ova of trout and salmon,
chiefly on account of the method it employs in procuring its food ; but beyond
an occasional small fish, the Dipper subsists entirely on larvae, which are
in themselves the greatest enemies to the ova.

The Dipper is an early breeder, and eggs are often laid in March. The site
chosen for the nest is usually on some ledge of rock or among the gnarled roots
of some tree which overhangs the water. Only once have I heard of a nest
being placed in a tree, and that because there was no other suitable place
for it anywhere near. Though it is often placed in a most conspicuous
position, it is so artfully built that it often escapes detection. On first sight
it appears to be only a patch of moss growing on the side of the boulder on
which it is placed. It is a domed structure like the Wren's, but the entrance-
hole can only be seen from below, as the upper side of the entrance overhangs
a little. The dome is constructed entirely of the moss which grows around
in such profusion. Inside is an ordinary open nest, rather like a Blackbird's ;
this is built of dry grass, twigs, etc., and lined with dead leaves of birch and
beech beautifully laid one on another. The same nest is often used year after
year, undergoing a few repairs each spring.

The eggs laid vary in number from four to five, and are a pure and spotless
white, with a somewhat rough surface. They vary from ri to '93 inch in length,
and from 76 to '69 inch in breadth. Two broods are reared in the year.

146

PLATE I
DIPPER. Cinclus aquaticus

April 2.6th, 1897. — This Plate shows the nesting-site of a pair of Dippers,
and gives a very good idea of the difficulty of seeing the nest. It is in the
middle of the Plate, and is half concealed by the ivy which hangs over the face
of the rock on which it is built. The nest contained five fully fledged young
birds, so that the eggs must have been laid early in March. All the time
we were at the nest the old birds flew round and round, uttering their call-
notes, and now and then perching on some stone within a few yards of us,
making little bobbing curtsies like a Robin.

I visited the nest this spring (1898) on April i8th, and found the young
birds just leaving the nest ; there was only one of them left when I examined it,
the others were all sitting on the various boulders not far off. The same nest
had been occupied as last year, but a fresh covering of moss had been put over
the dome, making the nest look very large and bulky.

D I P P E R. Cinclns aquatic us.

FULMAR

Fulmarus glaciahs

. KILDA is the principal breeding station of the Fulmar
in the British Islands, but during the last few years it
has taken up its abode in small colonies along the
precipitous cliffs of the west of Shetland, and there are
now three or four fair-sized colonies. It is said to have
bred in one locality on the west of Skye.

The Fulmar lives exclusively at sea, often at immense

distances from land, and only visits some rocky island to rear its young. It
has great powers of flight, and somewhat resembles a Gull in its colouring,
but no one who has once seen it soaring with outstretched wings could ever
mistake it for that bird. The Fulmar never seems to tire, but follows
the whalers and deep-sea fishing-boats for the scraps of fish and offal that are
cast overboard. When the bird takes a large piece of food it sits on the
water and tears it to pieces with its powerful hooked bill, but smaller pieces
are bolted whole. They follow the Atlantic steamers in small parties, sailing
backwards and forwards in the wake of the ship, ready to pounce down on
any scrap of food that may be thrown overboard.

The Fulmar is a very silent bird, and seldom utters a note of any kind.
Only once have I heard a sound uttered by this bird, and that was in
Shetland, in June, about midnight, as I lay on a flat piece of rock looking
over the cliff at three or four Fulmars, sitting on their single eggs not far
below me. The mate of one of these birds alighted beside it, and the sitting
bird at once rose off the egg uttering a low crooning sort of note — ' coo-roo,
coo-roo,' rather like the murmuring notes of the Ringdove ; it then flew from
the ledge, leaving the new-comer to sit on the nest.

The food of the Fulmar consists of garbage of all kinds, and any oily
substance, fish, molluscs, etc. In its stomach large quantities of sorrel are
usually found, perhaps to counteract the effects of its oily food.
VOL. in. — 2 Q 149

June is the month to observe the nesting habits of the Fulmar. On the
St. Kilda group the greatest number of Fulmars breed, where the cliff,
although very precipitous, is broken up into grassy ledges covered with
loose rich soil and overgrown with sorrel, coarse grass, and other plants.
Here almost every available spot is a Fulmar's nest, and as you move about
the birds rise from every inequality in the turf. A slight excavation or
burrow is made in the loose rich soil, but seldom deep enough to conceal
the sitting bird. In some places a little grass is used as a lining to the nest,
but in others the nest cavity is quite bare. In Shetland I never saw a nest
with any sort of lining at all ; it was simply some convenient corner on a
rocky ledge — in fact, just the sort of site which a Guillemot would select. I
noticed in this locality that a bird would get behind some stone on the cliff if
it could, as if it preferred the shelter. The mates of the sitting birds flew
backwards and forwards along the cliff face all day, with outstretched wings,
only giving a few beats every now and then. I noticed that the Fulmar
kept its wings absolutely stiff and straight while it glided along, not
like the Gull, whose wings are always slightly bent at the joints ; and the
Fulmars seemed to turn on a pivot in the centre of their bodies, often
describing a complete circle in the air without a movement of the wings.

The Fulmar lays its single egg about the middle of May, sometimes
earlier and sometimes later, according to the season. It is pure white, and
rough and chalky in texture, without any gloss, and retains the peculiar
musky smell for many years after it is blown. They vary considerably in
size, and very soon become stained by contact with the birds' feet and the
soil on which they are laid. They vary in length from 3*25 to 27 inches,
and in breadth from 2' 15 to r8 inches.

Young in down are sometimes pure white and sometimes a dirty brownish
grey with white breasts ; I have seen numbers of both on one cliff. The
old birds also seem to have a light and a dark phase, as is the case with
Richardson's Skua. In St. Kilda, when the young Fulmars are nearly able
to fly the Fulmar-harvest commences. This is the great event of the year
there; the bodies are salted and stored for use in the winter, and the feathers
are exported.

150

PLATE I
FULMAR. Fulmarus glacialis

June 2oth, 1897. — This photograph was taken from a ledge of rock near the
top of a cliff on the west coast of Unst in Shetland. Looking down from
this coign of vantage, several Fulmars may be seen sitting on their eggs,
while in the foreground a pair of Razorbills and some Puffins are sitting on
the rocks. I got down among the Fulmars after taking some photographs,
and found more than a dozen nests ; these were simply little hollows among
the chips of rock on the ledges, or in cavities where one would have expected
to find Razorbills breeding. The Fulmars were absolutely tame, and I caught
several in my hand, getting covered with oil for my pains, as the birds ejected
it from their mouth with great violence, making a sort of coughing noise at the
same time. There were many more nests below, but I had no rope with me ;
the cliff overhung somewhat and was very rotten, and I had no desire to fall
a couple of hundred feet into the sea below by a slip. Although the eggs
were all on the point of hatching, they were quite clean and white, no doubt
owing to the clean rock on which they were laid. The St. Kilda eggs, which
are laid on peaty soil, get almost black in some cases before they are
hatched.

Jv Tf&

•|»

F U L M A R. /•nlinai'iis glacia/is.

DUNLIN

Trtnga alpina

URING the spring and autumn migrations the Dunlin is
the commonest of all the Sandpipers on the coasts of
the British Islands, and there is little doubt that numbers
of these remain in this country throughout the year. It
is a regular summer visitor to the Outer Hebrides, and
the Orkneys and Shetlands, but in England it is rather a
local bird during the breeding season.

The Dunlin is the most gregarious of all the Sandpipers, and may be
seen in enormous flocks, even during the breeding season. These flocks vary
from a few individuals to thousands of birds. It is very fond of associating
with other Sandpipers, especially on migration. In winter its favourite resorts
are the mudbanks, exposed at low water in some estuary ; there it may be
observed running over the slimy surface of the mud, searching for the small
worms, tiny molluscs, and marine insects on which it feeds. Sometimes it
runs along in the shallow water as the tide slowly covers the mud, or dodges
about among the tufts of sea grass on the shore at high water. When dis-
turbed, the whole flock rises at once and flies off, seldom leaving even a straggler
behind. It is a bird of very rapid flight, and rises quickly from the ground
without any of the zigzagging motions of the common Snipe. When a large
flock of these birds is flying in the distance they become invisible every now
and then, as they wheel round and expose the upper part of their plumage
to the observer, while yet again the whole flock flashes out white as the
under parts are exposed to the sun.

The Dunlin is rather a quiet bird. Its call-note may be described as a

grating trill, somewhat resembling the syllables ' trr-ee-ee-eej or simply

' trr? During the breeding season, the male, in addition to the ordinary

trill of the Sandpipers, has a hoarse cry rather like the word ' cheese] some-

VOL. in. — 2 R 153

what drawn out. This is generally uttered as he alights on the ground near
his mate, and is usually accompanied by an elevating of the wings.

The Dunlin does not breed inland in such numbers as it does near the
coast, except in suitable localities near some loch, or where the tidal rivers
attract them. May is the month when most of the birds lay. The nest is
very difficult to find, as it is so well concealed, but after one has seen three
or four nests, it is easy to locate the sort of ground in which one may expect
to find them. The site chosen is generally the middle of a tuft of grass, and
numbers of nests may be found in close proximity in patches of that short
curly grass which is found on marshy places among the sandy hillocks near
the shore. The nest is a mere depression in the centre of a tuft of grass,
scantily lined with a little dry grass, a few rootlets, and a little moss.

Four eggs are laid, placed in the nest in the manner peculiar to all the
waders ; they are subject to considerable variation in colour, and are usually
very beautiful. The ground-colour varies from a beautiful pale green to a
pale brown or buff, richly blotched, clouded, spotted, or streaked with various
shades of rich reddish brown to dark brown or nearly black ; underlying spots
are indistinct and of a grey colour. On some specimens the markings are
small and evenly distributed over the entire surface, on others they are large,
and many of them confluent, forming irregular blotches of colour, chiefly on the
large end of the egg. On many specimens they take the form of streaks lying
obliquely to the longer axis of the egg : these are usually much the handsomest
varieties. They vary in length from 1-41 to 1*20 inch, and in breadth from
ro to '89 inch.

Young in down are most beautiful little creatures ; they have the
upper parts a rich reddish brown, sprinkled with little bright buff-coloured
spots, and mottled with velvety black ; the under parts are buffish white. The
bill, legs, feet, and claws are black. The young in first plumage are also very
beautiful, but they are so well described in many well-known ornithological
books that they do not require notice here.

The great southward migration of Dunlins takes place in September, and
during that month huge flocks of these little waders may be seen on most
of our low-lying coasts.

154

PLATE I
DUNLIN. Tringa alpina

May 20th, 1895. — I paid a visit to a low-lying grassy island in one of the
lochs in Central Scotland, to obtain some photographs of the nests of the
Tufted Duck. The whole island was simply swarming with Dunlin, but the
nests were terribly difficult to find ; and although the birds were running about
the grass at my feet, I searched for more than half an hour before I came
across my first nest. It was most artfully hidden in the centre of a tuft of
grass, which hung down all round the nest, concealing the eggs most effectually.
In another part of the island, where the grass was shorter, I found several
nests, two of which I photographed. In the Plate will be seen a little ball of
earth to the left of the nest ; the whole place was covered with these little
detached lumps, but how they came there quite baffled us, as the grass grew
as thick as a carpet everywhere, and there were no broken edges of soil
anywhere near — besides, it was quite eight feet above the highest level of the
loch. Although the date was late, nearly all the eggs were quite fresh, and
many nests had only two or three eggs in them.

155

DUNLIN. Triaga alpina.
% NATURAL SIZE.

819005

BIOLOGY

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Among British birds in their nesting haunts : illustrated by the camera"

See other formats